


Our Little Secret

by EarthboundJedi



Series: Our Little Secret [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, it was going to be short but now it has a mind of its own, my super late contribution to MariChat week
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-26 09:38:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 45,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6233596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EarthboundJedi/pseuds/EarthboundJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place a few years after first getting their Miraculouses. Adrien has been forced back into being home schooled, while Marinette has started leaving food out for Paris's favorite black cat. As Chat Noir and Marinette each realize that the other fills in a hole in their life, their friendship grows.</p><p>((It started off as a piece for the first <a href="https://marichatweek.tumblr.com/prompts">MariChat Week 2016</a>, but now it has a mind of it's own.))</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Secret Dating

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so not only is this my first piece of writing for the Miraculous Ladybug fandom, but this is my first fanfic ever. And the last time I did serious creative writing was, like, nearly ten years ago (I've still done various reports and other writings, just no fiction). So bear with me as I gain my footing. (^.^)

It had been three years.

Three years since Marinette first became Paris’s beloved Ladybug. Three years since she first met her partner-in-crime-fighting, Chat Noir. Three years since she fell head-over-heals in love with Adrien Agreste.

Now it had been three weeks.

Three weeks since a certain famous fashion model was pulled back out of public school by his controlling father. Three weeks since a certain superhero in a catsuit started knocking on her bedroom’s trapdoor on a nightly basis.

Three weeks since Marinette’s life turned upside down.

Marinette sighed as she stared at the framed picture of Adrien on her desk. “I just don’t understand, Tikki! I know as well as anyone that preparing for university is important,” she started, motioning at her growing piles of sketchbooks and applications, “but how would being homeschooled your final year make any difference? It just doesn’t make sense!”

Tikki flew up and nuzzled her Miraculous holder’s cheek. “I’ve never gone to school, Marinette, so I wouldn’t know. But you have to respect that Mr. Agreste is just trying to do what’s best for his son.”

“I know, but I miss him. And I was finally getting my stuttering down to every three words instead of every other word!” Marinette pouted as her kwami giggled. “And now, on top of all that, that stupid cat hasn’t left me alone since the last akuma attack at the end of the summer!”

“Maybe he has friends he misses, too, Marinette!”

Marinette leaned back in her chair, covering her face with her hands. “But why meeee? At first it was kinda fun to play along, but now Chat’s cutting into my homework time that I already don’t have time for between being Ladybug and going to school and being the class president but I don’t want to turn him away because he always just looks so happy when I offer him a fresh-baked cookie or croissant - I swear, sometimes he actually looks like he lives in an alley - ”

“In that case, just stop feeding him and he’ll go away!” Tikki teased, interrupting Marinette to force her to take a breath.

“You and I both know that’ll never happen.”

“You feeding him, or him going away?”

“Both.”

Marinette peeked through her fingers at her computer screen. The time read 20:58, which meant in two minutes time Chat Noir would come knocking on her door again. Her partner may get irritating sometimes, but at least he was punctual.

She sat back up in her chair, trying to concentrate long enough on her homework to solve at least one more math problem. But try as she might, every time she looked at her textbook all she could see were two electric green eyes staring back at her.

And she wasn’t sure if they belonged to Adrien or Chat.

A soft rapping on her trapdoor snapped her out of her reverie. Taking a deep breath, Marinette grabbed a plate of fresh croissants from her bedside table and ascended the ladder to the roof.

Croissants were Chat’s favorite.

Within seconds after unlatching the lock, a damp mop of blonde hair was looking at her upside down. _Wait, had it been raining?_ Marinette had been sitting at her desk for so long, she hadn’t even noticed.

“Princess, would it be alright if I came inside? It’s raining cats and dogs out here,” the hero said with a smirk.

_Not even thirty seconds in and he’s making puns._ Marinette groaned internally. “Sure thing, _chaton_ , but if you get my room all wet _you’ll_ be the one to face the wrath of my parents.” Not that her parents had any mean bone in their bodies, but Chat wouldn’t know that.

“I’ll be careful, I promise.”

Marinette back-tracked down her ladder and stepped aside just in time as the black-clad hero gracefully let himself into her room, landing in his signature crouch. As he looked up at Marinette, she could see his eyes light up as he spotted the plate of baked goods in her hands.

“Aw, princess, are those for me?” Chat tried to pass the question off as playful, but Marinette could still pick out notes of pure hunger in his voice, as if the poor cat hadn’t had a decent meal all day.

“Of course. What kind of friend would I be if I let my little kitty go hungry?”

Chat straightened himself out as he stood up, and the phrase “little kitty” couldn’t have been more ironic. Ever since they first started working together, Chat had always been taller than Marinette, but within the past year he had really hit a growth spurt. He had to be at least 1.8 meters tall by now, his shoulders had started to broaden, and the muscles that ran up and down his long limbs looked more toned than ever. Marinette couldn’t help but stare as she watched beads of water drip off of his hair onto his shoulders, running along the sharp lines of his torso down his chest and-

“Hellooooo, Earth to Marinette? I know I’m pretty out-of-this-world, but you don’t need to space out.”

Marinette was jerked out of her second trance of the night, nearly dropping the plate of croissants. Eyes wide, she lifted her gaze to meet Chat’s lime green eyes.

She could feel a blush creeping up her neck, threatening to make her entire face redder than her alter-ego’s suit.

_Oh no._

“S-s-sorry, Chat, I just… I… the… the water. Y-your suit…. I....”

_What was wrong with her tonight?_

“If you have a spare towel, I could always use that. Then you won’t have to worry about your room getting soaked,” Chat said with a knowing wink.

_That stupid cat’s flirting. After all these years. It’s finally getting to her. This couldn’t be happening._

“Right! Yes! A towel! Hold these, I’ll be right back,” Marinette all but squeaked as she shoved the plate of croissants into Chat’s hands.

She stumbled down the steps from her bed, rounding the corner into her bathroom.

“ _Tikki_ ,” Marinette whispered urgently into her collar as she fumbled with a couple of towels on the shelf. “ _HelpMeOMGWhatIsHappening_.”

Tikki flew out from beneath Marinette’s signature jacket and perched on a bottle of shampoo. “Marinette, you should really just breathe and calm down. It’s just Chat Noir, your partner and friend. And he’s going to get your carpet all wet if you don’t get back out there with a towel, which I don’t think your parents will be too pleased about if they find out.”

Marinette gave her kwami a nod, taking a deep breath as she clutched a soft pink towel. _Right. Just Chat Noir. Her partner. Her friend._

_But what if…_

Marinette blinked the thought out of her head. Her hormones were not going to get the best of her tonight, no way. She was just reacting more than usual because she missed Adrien, that’s all. _Yeah_ . _That’s all_.

She climbed back up the steps to where Chat stood, towel in hand. Chat’s eyes widened a little as she approached, as if he was suddenly aware that he had half a croissant hanging out of his mouth and only one remaining on the plate (there were at least six on it to start with).

Marinette couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of her partner, looking like he was just caught in the middle of some heinous crime. _Yep, just Chat. An unlucky kitten who ate like he was always running out of time._

She handed him the towel as he set down the plate with one and a half croissants on it. “Thanks,” he grinned sheepishly as he raked a hand through his damp hair.

Marinette just smiled at him while he dried off. His complexion already looked better after eating, making Marinette wonder what the stray cat actually did as a civilian and why he seemed to always look malnourished lately. Chat handed the towel back to Marinette after he finished, and she couldn’t help but notice it smelled like a mix of rainwater and his familiar, slightly musky scent.

“Sorry about the croissants, I guess I was hungrier than I thought,” Chat said as Marinette tossed the towel into her hamper.

“Don’t worry about it, I already ate a couple hours ago.” Marinette motioned for the two of them to sit at the foot of her bed. Chat picked up the half-eaten croissant as he sat down, gleefully shoving the rest of it into his mouth as Marinette continued. “About that… why is it that you’re always so hungry when you come here? I know my parents make some of the best baked goods in all of Paris, but sometimes it’s as if you haven’t eaten all day.”

Chat swallowed his mouthful of food with a somewhat dramatic gulp. “Well, my family is very conscious of what we eat, so I’m constantly forced to go on diets. But they don’t know about my double-life and accelerated metabolism, so I never actually get enough food.

“Sometimes I don’t think they even realize I’m still a growing teenager…”

Noticing his change in tone, Marinette looked up from her clasped hands to examine Chat’s face. His previously bright green eyes had clouded over, a shadow falling across his face. He’d alluded to his home life before during his visits, but something seemed different this time.

“Chat,” she gently sighed. “If there’s something wrong, you know you can tell me.”

“Thank you, princess, but I don’t know that you’d be able to do anything, anyway.”

“I can listen.”

Chat turned his face so that he was looking directly at Marinette. She couldn’t help but notice the pure compassion that seemed to fill his entire expression. She also couldn’t help but notice a spattering of crumbs still stuck on the side of his mouth. A snicker escaped her lips.

Chat’s eyes widened in confusion. “Wha-”

“You’ve got some crumbs… here, let me…”

Marinette reached out to brush the crumbs off the kitten’s face. His cheek felt velvety soft beneath her fingertips ( _not even any stubble? How was that possible?_ ). Her thumb gently swept aside the bread crumbs, pausing to linger at the corner of his mouth. She found herself staring at the curve of his lips, at how inviting they looked. How aesthetically pleasing they looked against the sharp contrast of his well-defined jawline.

How kissable they looked.

She forced her gaze upwards to meet Chat’s eyes. Funny, his eyes seemed a lot larger than they were a few seconds ago…

Marinette blinked and refocused her vision, realizing that, no, Chat’s eyes hadn’t gotten larger, she had moved her face closer to his. A _lot_ closer. She pulled back with a start.

“Sorry! I… uh… guess I’m just pretty tired. Long day. Homework. All that.” _Seriously, what was wrong with her tonight?_

Chat laughed as Marinette faked a yawn. _Ohgosh, and his laughter sounds like rays of golden sunshine crashing against a twinkling waterfall whyyyy._

“Don’t worry about it, I understand. I’ve had a long day, too.” Chat didn’t press the topic of the almost-kiss-encounter any further.

_Funny, if I were in my spots, that’s definitely not how this conversation would be going._

Then Marinette remembered his words. That he’d had a long day. And he’s obviously having issues at home in his civilian life. _Marinette get your head together, Chat needs you as a friend right now._

“Chat, do you want to talk about it?”

He studied her expression a minute before responding, “Yeah, actually, I’d like that a lot.”

Marinette pulled her feet up onto her bed and scooted so her back was against the wall, crossing her legs into a pretzel. She motioned to Chat, patting the space on the bed in front of her. With a nod, he crawled over to join her, rotating onto his back so that his head was nestled on top of her lap.

She gently worked her hands into his scruffy hair (which had mostly dried from the rain) and started to methodically work in circles behind his cat ears. Chat exhaled deeply, partially closing his eyes. She could already feel the muscles in his upper neck start to relax as the tension in his body melted slightly with each pass of her fingers.

Poor kitten.

“Whenever you’re ready, _chaton_ , I’m all ears,” she murmured, gently tugging on one of his cat ears.

“Oh, I see the lovely damsel has developed a sense of humor!” He winked up at her before continuing.

“Let’s see, where to start… ah, okay. Well, you see… ” the usually eloquent Chat Noir seemed to be at a loss for words. He took a deep breath and began again.

“It all started when my mom left.

“My father was always the more strict one of my parents, but once my mom wasn’t around anymore to temper him he just kind of… I dunno, snapped. I mean, it’s not like he’s mean or anything, just very… controlling. And calculating. He dictates my entire schedule. Work, sports, schooling, everything. What I can do in my free time, if I even get any free time. Who I can hang out with. What I can eat. When I can eat.

“I know he means well. He’s been struggling ever since my mom left, and I think it’s just because he wants what’s best for me. He wants me to be a perfect son. Because he doesn’t want to end up losing me, too.

“But I honestly don’t know how much more of this I can take. And the past few weeks, he’s gotten even worse. Earlier today I tried to confront him. Tried to get a little bit of my freedom back. But it didn’t go well.

“I don’t think he realizes that the more he tries to protect me, the more he keeps pushing me away. We used to be closer when I was younger, but now I feel like I barely know him.

“I think I understand why my mom left after all those years. If he treated her at all like he treats me, I wouldn’t blame her for wanting to leave.

“I just wish she had taken me with her.

“Or that she had looked at me and seen a good enough reason to stay.”

At this, Marinette could see tears seeping out of the corners of Chat’s now-closed eyes. She brought her hands around to wipe the salty droplets off of his jet-black mask, but the effect of her hands caressing his face just caused more tears to spill over.

And it damn near broke her heart in two to see him like this.

_Seriously, what is it with single fathers in Paris lately? First Adrien, now Chat…_

Marinette cleared her throat, “Chat. I know it may not seem like it, because he’s your father and you love him, and I’m no expert at human relationships,” _(understatement of the year right there)_ “but what you’ve got going on between you and your dad is not a healthy relationship. It’s not right. And you shouldn’t have to put up with that.”

“But I don’t even know what to do anymore. I don’t have anywhere else to turn.”

“ _Chaton_ ,” Marinette murmured, “you’ll always have me.”

_You’ll always have your Ladybug_.

Something stirred inside her. Something persuaded her to lean her head over Chat’s, bringing her face closer to his. But it wasn’t that primal, hormonal urge she felt coming on earlier. This was different. A need to protect this boy, who helps protect so many people on a day-to-day basis, from the horrors in his own life. A need to support her friend.

A need to ensure her partner felt wanted and needed, just as he was.

Marinette steadily closed the gap between them, pressing her lips against his.

His lips tasted a little salty from the tears that had been smeared across his face. He also tasted faintly of the buttery croissants he had recently devoured. And she detected a hint of honey, probably from one of those natural chapstick brands.

But it was 100% familiar. 100% Chat Noir.

Chat brought his hands to cup either side of Marinette’s face. He gently pushed her back a centimeter so that he had room to speak. “You know, this would be a lot less awkward if I wasn’t upside-down.”

“Aww, but they make it look so romantic in the movies!” Marinette teased as she lifted her head.

Chat sat up and shifted so that he was turned around in front of her. As he did so, Marinette uncrossed her legs and sat up onto her knees, all the while trying to suppress the running commentary in her head screaming _OMG YOU KISSED CHAT NOIR AND HE REMEMBERS IT THIS TIME AND NOW YOU’RE PROBABLY GOING TO MAKE OUT OMG MARINETTE WHAT HAVE YOU DONE_

He took her face in both hands, carefully avoiding using his claws, and brought his face close so that she could feel his warm breath tickle her nose. “Permission to continue, princess?”

“Yes.”

Marinette had barely gotten the word past her lips before Chat covered them with his own, melting together at the point of contact. Her urging inner voice willed his hands to shift, to caress the back of her head and press against the small of her back. But Chat kept his hands firmly, yet gently, stationed on either side of her face.

It was a tender kiss. A quiet, yet enticingly sweet kiss.

But that other voice inside of Marinette tonight wanted more.

She looped her own hands around his neck, allowing her better leverage to pull herself closer against his tear-stained lips. Chat pulled away slightly from her insisting mouth.

“A little eager, aren’t we, princess?”

Marinette could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. Slightly embarrassed from being so forward with her partner (not that he knew it). Slightly embarrassed because she still held feelings for Adrien in her heart as well, and she’d be lying if she said the disheveled blonde in front of her didn’t remind her a little of the other blonde boy in her life. But very embarrassed from the realization that she was inadvertently trying to control the actions of her dear friend who had come to her for comfort.

_Shit_.

“Ohmigosh, I’m so sorry Chat, I don’t know what I was thinking! I mean, I do know, but-”

“Shhhhhhh,” he hushed as he placed a gloved finger over her lips. “It’s alright. I understand. I know I can be hard to resist.” He accented his last words with one of his signature winks. It looked like he was regaining some of his swagger. _Good_.

Chat continued with a grin, “I usually try to take things slow on a first date, that’s all.”

_Wait. Did he just say - ?_

“A...a…a date?”

“I mean, it’s not ideal, because usually I’d take a fine lady such as yourself out for a nice dinner, maybe a movie and a walk around the park, but that’s sort of difficult since I can’t have anyone seeing the two of us together. It would put you at risk. And at this point I can’t really traipse around with you in my civilian form, because firstly if you knew my identity that would be risky, and secondly I can’t even step foot outside my own house anymore unless I’m transformed, so - “

Marinette forced her entire hand over the cat’s mouth. She needed him to just shut up for a second so she could process everything he had just said.

“Hold up. We’re dating now? Are you serious? You haven’t even asked me out.”

Chat peeled her hand off his mouth so he could respond. “Well, only if you want to, that is. I can’t exactly ask you “out” out, because being seen in public with me would be dangerous. But I kind of figured that, after the way you’ve been acting all night, you kinda wanted to take this thing we’ve got going on to the next level.”

_Had he somehow moved on from his gigantic crush he has on Ladybug? And why her? Why plain, clumsy Marinette? Omg what if he figures it out OMG WHAT IF HE ALREADY KNOWS_

Marinette swallowed her thoughts, coming across much calmer than she felt. “Fair enough. But what if I say no?”

“As long as I can still keep coming here for food, I don’t mind.”

“And if I say yes?”

“Well, I would come for the food, _and then stay for dessert_.”

Marinette could feel her jaw drop slightly. It was one thing to hear Chat talk that way when she was all suited up, it was another to hear him use that kind of language towards her civilian persona. She felt that now-familiar heat rising through her chest and up her neck. _Why her? Why Marinette?_

Then she looked into Chat’s shining green eyes and found her answer.

Because he now looked at her with that same adoration she usually only saw while she was Ladybug. The look that meant he not only respected her, but trusted her with his life.

All because she had been a friend he could easily find and come to when he needed one most.

And because she kissed him. Holy crap she kissed him.

Chat looked at her expectantly. “So? What say ye, fair maiden?”

_Well, she wasn’t going to be seeing Adrien again any time soon, so why not?_

“Sure, I’ll be your girlfriend, Chat Noir.

“It’ll be our little secret.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, this ended up a lot longer than I thought it was gonna be originally.


	2. Cat Costume

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Alya and Marinette go shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My (late) contribution for [Marichat week](https://marichatweek.tumblr.com/prompts) Day 2

Marinette felt like she was walking on a cloud.

It was a Saturday, the sun was out, and she was strolling down the streets of downtown with Alya doing some window shopping.

And one of Paris’s top superheroes was her secret boyfriend.

It had been a few days since they had started “dating” earlier that week. Sure, it was kind of obnoxious that she finally had her first boyfriend and couldn’t ever be seen in public with him as her civilian self. And when she was Ladybug, she had to pretend that she knew nothing about a prior night’s make-out session with her partner.

But despite the overall strangeness and complicated nature of her situation, Marinette couldn’t be happier.

And Alya, being the perceptive investigator that she is, had noticed.

“Marinette, I haven’t seen you this cheerful since that one time you and Adrien were paired up to work on a science project last year. What gives? Did you find a way to somehow coax Adrien out of his prison of a house?”

“What? No, I haven’t seen him in nearly four weeks, same as everyone else.”

“We seriously need to organize a jailbreak for that poor kid,” Alya made a mental note to herself. “Anyway, so it’s not Adrien. Have you finally moved on to a new victim to be crushed upon?”

“Alya! That’s a weird way of wording it!”

“Aha, but you haven’t denied it, so I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Alya!!”

“Definitely a yes. Okay, so spill, who is it? As your best friend, I need to know these things!”

“Alya, I can’t tell you, even if I wanted to.”

“OOOOH, A SECRET ROMANCE!!” 

Marinette had to practically tackle her best friend to get her to quiet down. “Well, yes, so shut up, will ya?”

“But you know me, I have a need to know!” Alya whined. “So what’s he like? Is this like a Romeo and Juliet type thing going on? Oh my god, you’re not going to end up dead because of this, are you?” She was practically shouting again.

“He’s nice. No. And no. My life is  _ not  _ a Shakespearean tragedy.”

“ _ He’s nice _ ? That’s all I’ve got to work with? C’mon, Marinette, throw me a bone here!”

Playing off her friend’s last comment, Marinette decided an innocent comment couldn’t hurt. “Well… I guess he likes cats a lot.” She could practically hear the wheels start to turn in Alya’s head.

“Likes cats, huh?” Alya threw a mischievous glance at her BFF. “I think I know what store we’re going to next.”

“Alya, if you’re taking me to a pet supply shop so help me…”

\---

Marinette stood reluctantly in the entryway to what was definitely not a pet store.

The sign above the door had read  _ Cousteau’s Costumes: For all your fantasy needs _

“Alya, what about that perfectly nice looking toy store down the street?”

“Nope. You’re almost eighteen, time to enter the world of Big Girl Stores.”

“But - “

“Marinette Dupan-Cheng, so help me, there are at least twelve other stores I could have shoved you in that are more Adult than this one, all within a five kilometer radius of here. Don’t tempt me.”

Marinette sighed and let Alya drag her further into the store. It really wasn’t bad or anything, it was simply a year-round costume and accessory shop. Perfectly harmless. Whimsical even, she thought as she looked at the assortment of fairy wings and wizarding robes lining the shelves.

At least, that’s what Marinette thought before Alya had walked her all the way to the back of the store where more of the adult-sized costumes were kept.

“Let’s see…. Oh good, it looks like they’re in alphabetical order today! We’ve got airline attendants, angels…”

Marinette surveyed the wire racks covered in costumes. The pictures on the packaging were a combination of women in tight clothing, plunging necklines, and daring hemlines. All made out of a similar tacky costume fabric that she would never dream of using in her own designs.

_ Hooo boy, this was going to be a trip. _

“Here we are!” Alya exclaimed as she pulled down a few different packages from off the shelves. “You say your mystery man likes cats? Well, we’ll give him a cat he won’t forget.” She gave a wink to the owner of the store as she pulled Marinette around the corner to the fitting rooms.

_ Huh, so Alya’s been here before. Probably a lot. Great. _

Alya pressed one of the packages into Marinette’s hands. “Try this one on first. Show me when you’re done.”

Marinette realized it would be futile trying to argue with Alya right now, so she closed the door to the changing room and quickly worked her way into the first cat costume. Getting the dress on was a bit of a struggle, and no matter what she tried she couldn’t get the stretchy fabric to lay right against her chest.

_ Great, that probably means it was designed to be worn without a bra. Or without undergarments in general… _

Marinette looked in the mirror and could see a blush creeping up her chest and coloring her cheeks. The only cat-like things about this costume were the headband with fuzzy cat ears, a detachable tail, soft black faux-fur gloves, and a dainty jingle-bell collar. Otherwise the costume was no more than just a little black sleeveless dress with slits in the side that soared upward to nearly her hips.

Some people might have felt sexy in such a getup, but all Marinette felt was awkward.

She dutifully opened the door so that Alya could come in and see, even though all Marinette wanted to do at this point was strip out of this and put her normal clothes back on. Alya did a little circle around Marinette, looking at her as if she was some sort of statue in the Louvre.

“Well, this one has potential, except that you look like an awkward stick in the mud. And no matter how sexy you look, if you’re not comfortable you might as well be wearing an itchy burlap sack. Maybe we’ll come back to this one in a couple years once you’ve gotten a little more confident,” Alya winked at her friend.

Marinette breathed out a sigh of relief as Alya handed her the second package.

“After you get that one off, try this one on. I think you’ll like it a bit better.” Alya slunk out of the changing room, shutting the door behind her.

Marinette hastily stripped out of the first costume and pulled out the second one. Immediately she noticed that the main article of clothing was a full-body catsuit as opposed to the very short dress. This was already an improvement.

Marinette slid into the suit, pulled up the zipper in front, and started attaching the various cat accessories that were included in the bag. As she was pulling out the last item, she nearly dropped it out of surprise.

It was a black mask.

She turned over the package so she could read the label. It read, “Le Chat Noir,” and had a small picture of her secret boyfriend in the corner in addition to the picture of the costumed model.

This was either going to go really well, or really poorly.

Marinette slid the mask over her face as she looked in the mirror. The suit may be super form-fitting, but it was a feeling she was well used to (even though the material was of a much lesser quality than her and Chat’s usual suits). But as she did a quick spin in front of the mirror, she had to admit she made a pretty good-looking Chat Noir.

Marinette stepped outside the changing room to show Alya the results. Alya’s eyes were practically bulging out of her head at the sight of her best friend in a superhero costume.

“Girl. GIRL. You look damn fine in a super suit. The confidence. The allure. It’s perfect. I’m getting this for you, and you are going to wear this for your mystery man. End of discussion.”

“Alya, you don’t have to -”

“Consider it an early birthday present.”

“But my birthday is still months away…!”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re my best friend, you would never buy this for yourself, and I don’t want to wait months to find out what effect you have on your mystery man in that little number. It’s a purely selfish motivation, trust me.” Alya turned her friend around and gave her a playful shove back into the changing room. “Now, you go change back into your clothes, Imma be up at the front counter.”

Marinette worked on changing out of the costume and back into her regular clothes as Alya went up to the front to chat with the owner a little. Tikki popped her head out of Marinette’s purse to take a look at the result of Alya’s scheming before Marinette had a chance to take all of it off.

“Marinette, are you considering a change in superpowers?” the kwami teased.

“Of course not Tikki, this is just to humor Alya. ...and surprise a certain black cat we know.” She couldn’t help but feel a little thrill as she imagined Chat’s reaction to seeing his girlfriend wearing a skin-tight Chat Noir costume. “Now hide, Tikki!” Tikki giggled, diving back into Marinette’s purse as Marinette finished changing.

\---

The two girls exited the store arm in arm, Marinette clutching a shopping bag while her best friend started talking and laughing away.

“So, are you seeing your mystery man tonight?”

“Yeah.” Marinette felt a warm blush enter her cheeks. She tried to play it off by casually raising her free arm over her head to scratch the back of her neck, but Alya noticed her rosy complexion and smirked.

“Promise me you’ll wear the costume. Then tell me all about it tomorrow. If I can’t know who he is, I at least want to know how he reacts to my handiwork.”

“Fine, I promise!” Marinette laughed as she unlinked arms with Alya and started skipping in the direction of the bakery. Alya shook her head with a smile before chasing after her best friend down the street.

Chat was definitely in for a surprise tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lbr, Alya would be the one to drag Marinette into the Sin Bin.
> 
> Oh, and we're all going down with her. ;)
> 
> ((Next chapter will be coming whenever I finish it - I honestly can't make any guarantees when because I'm in the middle of moving right now))


	3. Sin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Chat is an innocent kitten. And then Sin happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My super super late contribution to [Marichat week](https://marichatweek.tumblr.com/prompts) day 3.
> 
> *bumps rating*
> 
> *backs away with a mischievous grin*

There was nothing quite like feeling the cool evening air of Paris pass through his hair as Chat vaulted over rows of buildings with his staff.

Especially compared to yet another long day of private tutoring, fencing lessons, photoshoots, and being carefully watched like a hawk by his father and his team of henchmen. (Really they were just assorted personal assistants, but secretly calling them “henchmen” provided Adrien with a small spark of amusement throughout the day.) That small spark was nothing compared to seeing Marinette, though. He sighed as he positioned his staff to propel him over another line of buildings.

He had started sneaking out of his room on a nightly basis as his superhero alter-ego roughly four weeks ago, when the new school year had started and his father had suddenly pulled him out of his classes.

Permanently.

He had told Adrien it was due to something along the lines of not being adequately prepared for university applications.

_ Bullshit. _

So now, after a few years of actually almost having a normal life, Adrien Agreste was back to being trapped in the antisocial bubble that his father deemed a “safe and stimulating” environment. Luckily, so long as he could open his window, he had a way to briefly escape that suffocating bubble..

And if his window was ever permanently locked shut, Adrien swore he would use his Cataclysm powers to bring the whole house down. Literally. Probably not a good plan for keeping his identity a secret, but  _ boy would that be satisfying _ .

Adrien came to rest on the nearest rooftop, staring across the street at the the soft lights pouring out of the windows of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He was a little earlier than usual tonight, he had been especially restless all day (history lessons could be a pain sometimes, but on a Saturday? Literally the worst) so he had excused himself early from dinner in order to “go to bed early”.

Not that dinner had been much, anyway.

During the summer, before the homeschooling had even begun again, Gabriel Agreste intensified his son’s modeling schedule. Which wasn’t necessarily horrible, but in recent months Adrien had started a massive growth spurt. The fact that he now stood well over 1.8 meters (and was now creeping up on the 2 meter mark) greatly pleased his father. After all, in the world of Agreste fashion, tall models are good models.

But along with the change in height, Adrien’s muscles were straining to fill out his larger frame. Between the surge of hormones in his system and his nightly escapades as Chat Noir, his shoulders had already begun to broaden and bulk-up, but the restrictive diet his father had placed him under prevented the rest of his body from properly catching up. All so that he could maintain that wiry look that was apparently “in” right now.

The diet in itself wouldn’t have been so detrimental if it weren’t for the fact that it didn’t account for Adrien’s secret double life as a very physically active superhero. So instead of carefully treading the line between chicly thin and improper nutrition, Adrien had become downright malnourished.

So at the end of the summer after an akuma fight, Adrien found that his route back home took him past the bakery run by Marinette’s family. And before he knew it, the smell of the freshly baked treats led his nose to the small terrace on top of the building, where a plate of croissants had been sitting unattended.

Unattended, that was, until Marinette opened up the trapdoor that evening to find Chat Noir devouring the entire plate of pastries she had set down while she went inside to grab a glass of water.

She had tried to shoo him away at first, teasing that he should stop by when the bakery was open instead of stealing table scraps. But despite her playful threats, he started stopping by each night at the same time, and Marinette would always have a plate full of pastries set out for him on her terrace.

He desperately missed his friends from school, so visiting Marinette had become a blessing in more ways than one. She would sit out on the terrace with him as he ate the food she had set out, talking with him about crazy things that had happened in school or how difficult the homework was getting. Her voice had a soothing effect, and it was a nice change of pace to hear her talk to him without stuttering or stumbling over all her words.

And it was nice to know he still had a friend he could talk to, even if she’d never know it was really Adrien Agreste under the mask.

He shook himself from his reverie as the lights on the ground floor of the bakery flickered off. All that seemed like something from the distant past after the events from earlier this week.

When he had kissed Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

And then asked her to be his girlfriend.

He still wasn’t quite sure if he was over Ladybug yet, but after three years of getting nowhere with the spotted heroine he figured maybe it was time to try something new. He would always love Ladybug, that was certain. But he wasn’t sure how to classify that love anymore.

Especially now that Marinette had entered the picture.

Marinette was the pure embodiment of kindness. Warmth. Sunshine. A bright beacon of hope on a foggy day.

She was fiercely passionate about the things in her life that she loved. Like her friends. Her family. Her designs.

And now, her  _ chaton _ .

For the first time in forever, someone genuinely cared about his well being.

He just hoped he didn’t let her down.

Chat surveyed the area from his crouched position, watching as lights flickered off all around him as the citizens of Paris wrapped up their business for the day to head off to bed. Ahead of him, the light from Marinette’s window dimmed, but still remained on as the rest of her house gradually went dark.

He felt his heart soar as he leaped across the street to land on her terrace.

_ Time for the prince to court the princess. _

He lightly scratched at her trapdoor with the tips of his clawed fingers.

“Come on in, Chat, it’s already unlocked,” he heard Marinette’s voice rise quietly from the other side of the door. Opening the door with a soft creak, he slipped inside and landed silently at the base of the ladder. She had mentioned before that her parents were heavy sleepers, but he still didn’t want to take any chances.

Even if he  _ was _ a superhero, he was pretty sure no parent would react well to seeing a teenage boy in a catsuit in their child’s room.

“Marinette?” Chat called out. “Where are you? And where are my croissants? I’m starving!”

“Don’t worry, kitty, you’ll get your food. Come down the stairs, I have a surprise for you first.”

_ A surprise?  _ He rarely got presents on his birthday, and never on a random Saturday.

Secretly hoping there was a cake or pie waiting for him tonight for his surprise, he descended the stairs from where her bed was to the main portion of her room. He scanned the room until he located Marinette lying on her soft pink chaise lounge.

What he saw was better than cake.

His girlfriend was stretched out sideways on her lounge, one hand holding up her head while the other draped across the curve of her hips. But it wasn’t just the sight of Marinette posing for him that accelerated his heartbeat. He felt as if his heart was about to leap out of his chest when he realized what she was wearing.

A skin-tight Chat Noir costume. Complete with a bell at the top of the front zipper and a smooth black mask. Her dark hair was tied back in a single bun at the nape of her neck (instead of her signature pigtails), gleaming with a blue tint from the moonlight streaming through the open window. She was like a softer, curvier, more mysterious version of himself.

“So,  _ chaton _ , how do you like your surprise?” Marinette cooed.

As Chat tried to speak, he realized his jaw had dropped open without even realizing it. “I… I, uh… oh, wow, uh…”

Marinette’s bright laughter filled the quiet room. “What,  _ cat got your tongue _ ?”

_ Oh god, did she just…? _

His suit suddenly felt unbearably hot.

He noticed Marinette’s eyes widen slightly as a blush creeped up past the collar of her black catsuit, quickly re-adjusting herself so that she was sitting up with her legs crossed in front of her rather than laid out like one of those French girls in the famous paintings.

_ Odd, why would - _

Marinette’s eyes kept flicking back and forth between what looked like his face and the floor. Chat looked down, hoping he hadn’t accidentally stepped on something. And then he realized she wasn’t looking at the floor. Not even close.

It was the bulge forming between his legs that kept drawing her attention.

_ Shit. _ This had never happened before.

Correction: he’d had the occasional wet dream from time to time since hitting puberty, but he’d never gotten a boner in front of another person before. Or because of another person. Or, in this case, both.

In the limited time Adrien was in public school, he never had any health classes. And of course his father never included this particular topic in his homeschooling curriculum. Therefore, his knowledge about anything sexual whatsoever was extremely limited.

So he had absolutely no fucking clue what he was supposed to do next.

A wave of embarrassment hit him and he froze up, shooting a terrified look at Marinette.

“Chat?! Ohmigod, Chat are you okay?” She jumped to her feet, apparently noticing the pure panic in Chat’s expression.

He just stood there, unable to get any sounds to come out of his mouth, adding yet another layer of embarrassment to his situation. He kept flicking his eyes between Marinette and his growing erection, hoping she would be able to figure out his predicament.

And, bless her soul, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was very observant. She crossed the distance between them ( _ oh god the sight of her spandex-clad hips swaying as she walked was nearly enough to take one of his nine lives _ ) and gently placed her hands on his shoulders.

“Chat,” she all but whispered, “is this your first…?”

“Uh, k-kind… of… y-yeah,” he managed to croak.

He almost expected her to tease him about it, but her response was nothing but understanding and caring. “O-okay, then, we’ve got a couple routes we can take. We can just kind of, uh, let it run its course, though I’ve heard from a couple of my friends that can be really frustrating and uncomfortable.” She paused to take a breath. “Or I could...erm… help you take care of it.” Somehow Marinette’s cheeks managed to turn an even deeper shade of pink.

_ OPTION TWO OPTION TWO OPTION TWO OPTION TWO _

“He...H-help…”

Marinette nodded in response. “If you get too uncomfortable or need to stop or anything, just let me know,” she murmured as she drew closer to him. Her hands had moved from his shoulders to behind his head, and he could feel her threading her fingers through his hair.

Marinette stood on her tiptoes as she pulled Chat’s head down so she could reach his lips. He had always been taller than her, but since his most recent growth spurt the top of her head barely came to the same level as his shoulders. Their height difference was a little awkward for kissing, but the determination in Marinette’s sky blue eyes told Adrien she wasn’t about to let that stand in the way.

As she pushed up into him for the kiss, he could feel the curve of her breasts brushing up against the front of him each time she breathed. Her lips were gently nibbling at his, tugging on his lower lip but lacking the leverage to explore any further. Each faint motion of her body against his stoked a flame that was building somewhere in Adrien’s stomach. It felt invigorating.

But it wasn’t enough. He needed more.

Now imbued with a sense of purpose, he finally regained control of his extremities. No longer petrified at his sides, Chat wrapped his hands around Marinette’s back, pressing her soft curves closer to his chest. He ran the pads of his fingers up and down her spine, careful not to scratch her suit with his claws, drawing a soft hum out of her as he tickled the small of her back.

_ Still not enough. _

He slid his hands further down across her backside, bending over slightly to better reach the spot where the top of her legs met her ass.  _ God, she’s so soft and… squeezable? Was that an appropriate way to describe someone? _ He would have to come back to that thought in a minute, right now he was on a mission. A mission to get Marinette as close to him as possible.

Firmly grasping her, Chat began to lift upwards. Marinette let go of his hair and gripped his shoulders, pulling herself up his body as he lifted her ( _ wow, she was a lot stronger than she looked _ ). He drew himself back up to his full height, Marinette wrapping her legs just above his hips. She positioned her center so that she was pressed up against his erection. He could feel her warmth through the material of his suit, as well as…  _ sweat? _

He didn’t have time to dwell on that thought long before Marinette, whose head was now a smidge higher than his, hungrily resumed their kiss. She softly moaned into his mouth as she grabbed fistfuls of his hair.

_ Better. But still not enough. _

Chat repositioned his grip with his left arm so that he could reach up with his right to undo the ribbon holding her bun in place. Her dark hair tumbled like a waterfall around her face, trickling off just below her shoulders. The moonlight streaming in from the window bounced off her slightly wavy locks, surrounding her with a faint halo of light. She may have been wearing a catsuit, but she looked like an angel fallen from heaven.

An angel who was behaving like a sinner.

He wrapped his right arm around her upper back as she deepened their kiss from her higher vantage point. Her teeth lightly scratched at his lower lip, alternating between nibbling and sucking. When he let out a soft gasp, Marinette slipped her tongue between his open lips. He stood there clinging to her as her tongue swirled around his, exploring every corner of his mouth. Chat felt pressure building up in his lower stomach, sending flames coursing throughout his body.

_ If only this damn suit could come off.  _ Without releasing his transformation.

Marinette had finished familiarizing herself with his mouth, releasing her hold on him so the two of them could come up for air. Still wrapped around him, with every deep breath she took he could feel her spandex-covered body shift against his just enough to send little sparks of electricity through his nervous system.  _ Holy shit she was good at this _ .

She looked down at him, blue eyes sparkling behind the costume mask. “So, Chat… are you  _ feline _ better yet?”

_ Fuck. Shit.  _ This girl was going to be the death of him.

He could feel his knees going weak as the blood left his extremities to reinforce his erection. Marinette shifted against him as she felt him twitch underneath her, making the edges of his vision go dark.

_ Too much. Not enough.  _ He needed more. But he was terrified of what would happen if he did get more.

First things first, he needed to make sure he didn’t drop Marinette. Or fall over on top of her. Holding her tightly against him, Chat shakily walked over to the chaise lounge and lowered her onto its edge. Moments after he had released her, as he tried to stand up straight again, his trembling legs gave out and he collapsed face-first next to her on the lounge.

_ WUMPF! _

He let out a slow hiss into the cushioned surface. He was probably going to find a bruise on his nose or something tomorrow.  _ Great _ .

Marinette let out a small giggle as she helped roll him over on his back, brushing some stray locks of hair away from his forehead. “Seriously, Chat, are you okay? We can stop if you need to.”

His nose was throbbing from his faceplant, but that wasn’t the only part of his anatomy still throbbing. “Please… not yet…”

She pressed her lips against his forehead in a chaste kiss, helping him swing his legs up so that he was lying lengthwise on the lounge. After making sure he was situated, she crawled over top of him and straddled his hips. She dipped her torso to hover barely a centimeter above his, placing her arms on either side of him while her weight settled backwards where their hips met.

As a sly grin crossed her features, he couldn’t help but think she looked like a cat ready to pounce on its prey.

She wriggled her hips on top of him, making small circular motions against his erection that felt like shockwaves coursing through his body. He squeezed his eyes shut, his hands finding their way to her hipbones.

When he opened them, he realized Marinette had stopped moving, eyes narrowed at him with concern.  _ Why did she stop? _

“Chat, are you  _ sure  _ you’re okay?”

“O-of course, w-what makes you say that?” he tried to reply with his usual swagger, but his voice came out so heavy and breathy he barely recognized it himself.

“For starters, you’re holding my hips a little too hard.”

_ Shit _ . His hands immediately let go of her and flew next to his head like he was being put under arrest.

“Secondly, your face literally looks like you’re in pain.”

“I swear, I’m alright. It’s just… my suit…” he trailed off.

With a thoughtful look on her face, Marinette reached with one of her hands to tug at the jingle bell at the top of his suit. She almost seemed surprised when it didn’t budge, and Chat raised an eyebrow at her.

“Believe me, princess, if it were that simple I would have done it ages ago.”

“But… the design of the suit, it looks like that should be a zipper.”

“It very well could be, but since this suit is magically fused to the surface of my skin, it’s going nowhere. Until I release my transformation, I’m trapped in here.” He watched as Marinette hit her forehead with the heel of her hand, looking as if she were scolding herself for even asking about it in the first place. “Hey, you couldn’t have known, I barely understand how this thing works sometimes, myself.”

She blinked a couple times to clear whatever train of thought she had, then looked back down at Chat with a mischievous look in her eyes.

“I guess I’ll have to make do with what I’ve got, then.”

Marinette pinned his hands against the lounge with her own. Shifting forward, she brought her face so close to his that their noses were maybe only a hair’s width apart. Staring him straight in the eye, she gave him one of those looks that made him feel like his pupils were about to shrink and disappear into his own eyeballs. He’d seen it happen in cartoons all the time.

“ _ Meow _ , where were we,  _ chaton _ ?”

He heard his pulse beat loudly in his ears.  _ How does she keep coming up with these cat puns? And why did it turn him on so much? _

Marinette turned her head slightly so that she could run kisses up and down his jawline, lightly scraping against his skin with her teeth. Chat gradually tilted his head back, exposing as much of his neck to her as possible, not wanting to interrupt her ministrations along his jaw.

After caressing the edge of his jaw by his ear with her lips, she started working her way down and around his neck. Her tongue left smooth narrow trails across his skin, leaving a cool tingling sensation as her saliva quickly evaporated from his burning flesh. She planted a delicate, tender kiss directly on his exposed Adam’s apple, and it was simultaneously the sexiest and sweetest thing she had done yet to him this evening. Adrien felt like he was about to melt into a puddle right there on the lounge, until he felt Marinette suddenly sucking at the pulse point on the side of his neck.

And if that weren’t enough, he felt her shift some of her weight back onto his crotch again.

He felt a moan bubbling up in his throat as she pulled the skin on his neck into her mouth. Sucking it. Nibbling it. Releasing it. Lightly brushing it with her lips. Repeating. Over and over and over again. Each sensation sent electricity crackling through his nerves, fire coursing through his bloodstream.

_ That’s definitely going to leave a mark.  _ And if he, Adrien Agreste, didn’t manage to cover it up the next day, he was as good as dead.

But right now he didn’t care. Because right now he was happy. The happiest he’d been in a very long time. Possibly the happiest he’d ever been in his entire life.

He would have been very content to lie there forever, letting Marinette suck all his troubles away through that one spot in his neck.

And then she shifted her hips, dragging her center up and down along his erection.

Suddenly, all of the pressure building inside of him released.

He saw stars dance across his vision, squeezing his eyes shut because somehow he thought that would help.

He felt his pelvic muscles contract, his hips thrusting up to press against Marinette as he became aware of a warm, wet sensation somehow spreading underneath his suit.

_ Plagg would probably never let him live that down _ .

He felt his voice hitch in his throat before rushing out his mouth, sounding like the frantic meows of a tomcat that was in the process of being strangled. His loud cry shattered the quiet atmosphere of the Dupain-Cheng household, causing Marinette to quickly cover his mouth with her hands before he could do any more damage.

_ He meowed. He had fucking meowed. He could have made literally any sound as he was orgasming and he just HAD to fucking MEOW. _

“Dammit, Chat, my parents may be heavy sleepers but there’s no way they didn’t hear that,” she hissed.

And then, as if right on cue, they heard a knock from the other side of her bedroom door. “Marinette, is everything okay in there?” her father asked, “Your mother and I heard a loud meowing sound.”

“Don’t worry dad, it was just a stray cat looking for some food!” Marinette called back. “It… uh, sort of fell off the roof as it was leaving, but, uh… everything’s perfectly alright now! I’m fine. We’re all fine now. Good night!”

Adrien could hear her dad chuckle. “Okay then, sweetie. Good night!” The creak of his footsteps gradually grew faint as he went back to bed.

Marinette kept her hands over Chat’s mouth for a solid thirty seconds, making sure the coast really was clear before releasing him. Those thirty seconds felt like an eternity to him, slowly ticking by as the waves of pleasure that had wracked his body slowly subsided.

She looked down at him as his breathing leveled out. “I can’t believe you actually meowed,” she giggled, eyes smiling behind the black mask she still wore.

“To be honest, I can’t either. It just kinda happened.”

Marinette rolled off him and got to her feet, glancing at the digital clock across the room. “Chat, it’s already after midnight. You should probably go soon.”

He slowly sat up, testing out his control over his limbs as his heartbeat started to slow back down. “ _ Purr _ haps you’re right, princess.” It was hard to see much in the dim lighting, but he could practically feel Marinette rolling her eyes at him.

“Chat.”

“Yeah?”

As he stood up to meet her, he half expected to see her jokingly glaring at him. Instead, she looked up at him with questioning blue eyes.

“How was it?”

_ Seriously? Did she really just ask that? Could she not tell that he was still reeling from all the fantastic things she made him feel just moments ago? _

He was about to make some sort of sarcastic remark, when he noticed how she was slightly biting on the corner of her lower lip. Something she always did when she was nervous. A rush of warmth overcame his senses as he enveloped her in a hug.

“Great. Fantastic. Perfect,” he murmured into her ear.

As he broke the hug and held her at arm’s length, he saw Marinette had a wide smile plastered across her face.

“Really?”

“Really. We should do it again sometime.” He gave her a wink and a short, sweet kiss before bounding up the stairs to her trapdoor. As much as he didn’t want to leave, he needed to make sure he was home before anyone realized he was gone. And he needed to figure out how to cover up the hickey he felt developing on his neck.

“Chat?”

“Yes, princess?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Definitely. Good night, princess.”

“Good night,  _ chaton _ .”

And with that, Adrien was back outside in the cool evening air, picking a route across the buildings of Paris. As he soared through the air, feeling lighter than a feather, a single thought was on his mind:

_ I think I’m in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo... Chat sort of has a pun fetish now. Ooops.
> 
> I already have the idea for where I'm taking the next chapter, so we'll see how long it takes for me to write it.


	4. Kittens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where it's so cute and fluffy Marinette is gonna die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on the prompt for [Marichat Week](https://marichatweek.tumblr.com/prompts) day 4: kittens
> 
> I'm finally (mostly) moved into my new apartment and I have internet access again, so here ya go. ;)

Marinette woke to the sound of her phone vibrating like crazy on her bedside table. A picture of Alya lit up the screen directly under the numbers that told her it was already nine o’clock. The Sunday rush at the bakery would be starting soon as the morning church services wrapped up (the joys of having a popular bakery in the heart of Paris), and if Marinette wasn’t downstairs within the next hour one of her parents would barge in and drag her into the kitchen themselves. 

And see a highly suspicious Chat Noir costume draped over her desk chair from the night before.

_Shit._

Groaning, Marinette swung her legs over the side of her bed as she picked up her phone. After nearly tripping over the sheets that had wrapped themselves around her ankles, she climbed down the stairs from her bed before pressing the large green button that had popped up on her phone’s touchscreen.

“Girl. Details. _Now_.”

“Alya, ohmigosh, it’s way too early for this. And you know I have to help out at the bakery all day today.” Marinette set her phone down on her desk and put it on speaker (though with Alya, she almost didn’t have to) so she could work on getting dressed and hiding any evidence from last night.

“Which is why I need details now, because if I have to wait until later this afternoon I’m going to literally explode.”

“Literally?” Marinette questioned as she changed into a white t-shirt and pale pink jeans.

“Yes. Literally. Which would make you responsible for my death.” Marinette giggled as her best friend continued. “So what happened? Did your mystery man like it? What was his reaction?”

“Well… he liked it.” Marinette grabbed her hairbrush from its place on her desk and started pulling back her hair into pigtails.

“ _He liked it??_ That’s all you’re giving me to work with? After all I’ve done for you? Don’t make me track down this mystery man of yours so I can ask him about it myself,” Alya threatened.

Marinette sighed. “Fine. But I’ve only got a few minutes before my parents come looking for me.” The other side of the line was silent as Alya waited for her to continue. “Okay, um… erm, he _really_ liked it. Like, his eyes were practically popping out of his head when he saw me.”

“Good, good. And?”

“And… well, after that he was kinda speechless, so I dropped a corny cat pun on him – “

“OMG, just like the real Chat Noir! Girl. I’m impressed.”

“Uh, yeah, and… uh… well… then… uh…”

“So help me, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you’d better spit out whatever juicy piece of information you’re holding out on, or I swear to god I will reach through this phone and pull it out of you.”

“The pun… uh… _turned him on_.”

“MARINETTE!” Marinette hastily took her phone off of speakerphone before Alya’s shouts were heard throughout the entire house. This was _not_ a conversation she wanted her parents easily overhearing. “So, what, this guy’s got some sort of a Chat Noir fetish?”

“No! Definitely not! At least, I don’t think so.” _Who knows, maybe that silly cat has a narcissistic streak? She wouldn’t put it above him._ “Just… More like, he’s got a thing for puns. And skin-tight spandex suits.”

“Uh-huh, sure. But what did you do after that? Did you break out any of the lessons I taught you?”

“Yeah, actually. The kissing stuff really came in handy.”

“Please don’t tell me last night was your first kiss.”

“No! That happened, uh, earlier this week.” _Not counting the fact she had already kissed Chat Noir before as her superhero alter-ego and she was the only one who remembered it._ “But the, uh, make-out stuff. Tongue. Teeth. That was new.”

Alya made a sound like she was fake-crying. “Awwww, my little Marinette is starting to get all grown-up on me.”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Marinette felt her voice cracking a little, hoping to end the conversation before Alya found out about what else she had been up to last night.

“ _Marinette_.”

“What?”

“You’re holding out on me still. I can tell because your voice got squeakier.” _Damn it, why was her BFF such an excellent sleuth?_ “Now spill, or I swear I will come over to the bakery right now in person and wrestle it out of you.”

Marinette exhaled dramatically. “I… well… there might have also been some, uh, grinding - ”

“WAIT WHAT MARINETTE REALLY?” Marinette had to hold the phone a few inches away from her ear to avoid hearing damage. “YOU ACTUALLY…? OH. MY. GOD. YOU LITTLE SINNER.”

“Alya, please! It’s not like it’s a big deal or anything.”

“In my book it is, I didn’t expect you to make it that far for at least another couple weeks.”

“I mean, it just kind of happened. I dunno, it felt… right, somehow.” Being that close to Chat _had_ felt right. She had thought going into it that it might be awkward, especially since he’s had a crush on Ladybug for the longest time, but in the end everything had felt so natural the only part that sucked was when he had to leave. After his damn meowing had practically woken up the entire block. She could vividly remember how he looked back at her as he left, green eyes lit up by some a smoldering fire behind the mask.

_Oh great, and now that weird feeling in my chest is back_.

The sound of Alya chattering away shook Marinette from her musings. “I’m so proud, it’s like my baby bird has left the nest and come back with a pilot’s license.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Exactly. But seriously, I’m happy for you, girl. You’re another step closer to the _really_ fun part.”

Marinette went without responding for just a moment too long.

“MARINETTE. DON’T TELL ME. DID YOU…???” If she kept up like this, Alya’s shouts were going to somehow break the speakers on her phone.

“ALYA. Calm down! No. No no no no _no_. I did nothing of the sort. But Ch- my boyfriend, uh… he… uh…” Marinette couldn’t seem to get the right words to come out of her mouth. It was a good thing that her stutter-speak had become a second language to Alya, who easily deciphered what she was trying to say.

“ _Seriously_? He came from just a make-out session?”

“To be fair, it was a really good make-out session. Complete with hip action.”

“First, color me impressed. And second, sometimes you crack me up, girl. And by sometimes I mean a lot of the times. _Complete with hip action…_ ” Marinette could hear Alya snickering on the other side of the phone.

“I’m glad I can amuse you. But if you’re finally satisfied, I really need to go, or my parents are going to come hunt me down soon and I still have that darn suit sitting out and if they find out about it I’m going to die.”

“Girl, your parents are super chill! I doubt you’d get in trouble, even if they _did_ know what you were doing in that cat suit.”

“It’s not that, I would die of embarrassment.”

“Hahaha, alright. Go do what you gotta do, then.”

“Thanks, Alya. For everything.”

“No sweat! It’s what I do.” Marinette could practically hear Alya wink. “Talk to you later!”

“Later!” Marinette pressed the end call button on her screen. She sighed internally as she looked at the costume still draped over her chair. _Now, what am I going to do with you?_

She walked over to her closet and opened the doors. Peering inside, it looked like she had some space in the back where she could put the costume and have it covered up by a couple of her current projects. _Good_.

Just in time, too - barely a second after Marinette had shoved the catsuit into the back of her closet, her mom lifted up the door to her room.

_Note to self: find a way to lock that door._

“Marinette, if you’re already dressed why are you rummaging around in your closet? We need you downstairs, the baguettes aren’t going to start themselves!” she chided.

“Sorry, mom, I knocked some stuff over and was just straightening it back up. I’ll be down in a sec!”

Sabine chuckled at her daughter. “Just be sure to leave your klutziness in your room. Your father has already started on the wedding cake being picked up later this week, and the last thing we need is a four-tier cake all over the floor.” With that she closed the door, and Marinette could hear her mom’s gentle footsteps as she descended the stairs.

With the coast clear, Tikki flew out from behind Marinette’s cat-shaped pillows and landed on her chosen’s shoulder.

“Tikki, I don’t know what I’m more afraid of – my parents asking me about the noise from last night, or knocking over a giant cake!”

“I’d be afraid of the cake, because at least you can lie your way out of the meowing sound.”

“True. Unless the entire cake is a lie.”

Tikki cocked her head at Marinette quizzically. “How can a cake be a lie?”

“Nevermind that. Now hide, Tikki!” The kwami flew inside one of the pockets in the apron Marinette had just put on. As Marinette opened the door to go downstairs, she hoped that having Tikki with her would give her a boost of good luck.

She’d knocked over her dad’s cakes plenty of times before, and that wasn’t something she wanted to deal with today.

\---

Marinette wiped some sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. The first rush of the day was over, just in time for the Dupain-Chengs to close up and take a break for lunch. And so far the only thing Marinette had knocked over was a canister of flour, and since that usually happened at least three times a week anyway she considered today a success so far.

Going upstairs to their family kitchen, she sat down at the table and smiled at her dad as he brought over some sandwiches from the fridge. Just as Marinette shoved her face full with a bite of PB&J, her dad spoke, “So… how long have you been feeding that stray cat?”

She nearly choked on her sandwich. _Crap._ She was hoping her parents wouldn’t remember.

“Uh, about a month now.” _Truth_.

“Really. And you’ve been feeding it bakery leftovers this entire time?”

“Yeah, uh, it just sort of started hanging around and he looked like he could use the food more than I could so I started feeding him and he just kept coming back.” _Truth._

Her mom chimed in from across the kitchen, “You know, if you stopped feeding it I’m sure it would leave you alone.” Marinette felt Tikki giggle softly in her pocket.

“I know, I know, but he just looked so hungry and now I’ve kind of grown fond of the cat.” _Truth. An understatement, but the truth._ “And you know me, I just couldn’t – “

“Say no,” both of her parents finished, and the three of them burst into laughter.

“I think we might still have some leftover cat food in the pantry from that one time you looked after Mrs. Chamack’s cat a couple months ago,” Sabine noted after the laughter subsided. “If you’re going to keep feeding it, you might as well give it something more nutritious than croissants.” She walked over to the pantry and pulled out a bag of dry cat food that was still mostly full. Placing it on the counter in front of Marinette, she then grabbed a spare plastic bowl from the cupboard.

“Wait, so you guys aren’t mad at me?”

“It’s just a cat. And besides, if it hangs around the bakery long enough it’ll help keep rats and other vermin away,” her mom said with a smile.

Her dad helped her keep the bowl steady as Marinette poured food into it. A deep laugh rumbled in his chest, “Now, if it were a boy sneaking onto your roof that would be a different story!” Her mom joined in his laughter.

_Play it cool play it cool play it cool play it –_

“How is Adrien, by the way? We haven’t seen him around in a while,” Tom asked as the second round of laughter died down.

_Oh, right. Adrien._ A pang hit her stomach, though she wasn’t sure if it was out of guilt or longing or something else entirely. Marinette swallowed before answering, “I dunno, it’s like his dad has him quarantined in his own house. Once in a while Nino will get a text from him letting us know he’s still alive, but other than that no one has really seen or heard from him since school started.”

“Such a shame. He always loved my quiches so much. Or really anything we made,” Sabine collected their now empty plates so she could wash them. “Marinette, go ahead and take that up to your terrace before we reopen for the afternoon.”

“Sure thing, mom.”

Marinette smiled at her parents before climbing the stairs with the bowl of cat food, feeling a strange mixture of gratefulness and guilt.

As Alya had phrased it before: _girl, your parents are literally the best._

\---

Marinette sighed deeply as she flopped face-down onto her chaise. It was still early in the evening, but after an entire day of helping out with the bakery the first thing she wanted to do was sleep, not finish her homework.

She breathed in against the cushioned surface, still picking up traces of Chat’s sweet musky scent from the night before. _After all these years of fighting by his side, why had she never realized that he smelled so good?_

She lay there for a few minutes in silence, not focusing on anything except the calming effect of Chat’s scent and the distant sound of birds chirping from the park around the corner. Marinette felt her eyelids drooping closed, about to whisk her away to dreamland.

Then suddenly she heard it.

Hiding in between the bird calls, she heard a soft mewing noise. And the longer she listened, the more it sounded like a chorus of small little meows floating in from the sky. Marinette got up and walked over to her window, opening it up so she could stick her head out and listen better. _How in the world could there be cats in the sky?_

She poked her head out the window and looked around. She couldn’t see anything out of the usual, but the mewing sound was louder and sounded as if it was coming from directly above her.

_Oh, right, the cat food._

She shut her window and tiptoed up her stairs, quietly opening her trapdoor to take a look.

Then she stealthily crawled out onto the terrace to make sure she wasn’t imagining what she was seeing.

_Because it was the cutest damn thing she had ever seen._

The cat food she put out earlier had attracted nearly a dozen kittens to her terrace. Some were small, some were larger, some had short sleek coats (not bad for being strays), some were walking balls of fluff. Most of them weren’t really walking, though, they were just sort of flopping and tumbling around in a giant heap while mewing their little hearts out.

Then she heard a low chuckle and realized there was a person underneath the mountain of kittens.

“ _Chat_?”

The fluffy mane of blonde hair amid the blacks, whites, and oranges shifted so that a large pair of lime green eyes were looking up at her.

“Princess! We were wondering when you were going to come up and join the party!” He laughed as a calico kitten crawled over his face and tangled itself in his hair.

Most of the kittens were circling around Chat like the least intimidating school of sharks you had ever seen, bumping into him and rubbing up against him, tumbling around all over the ground. A couple had curled up on top of his chest to sleep, gently rising and falling as Chat tried to keep his breathing as even as possible. A few more were batting at his tail as it twitched of its own accord next to him.

And to top it off, Chat had this huge child-like grin plastered on his face. She didn’t think she had ever seen the alley cat so giddy before.

It was adorable. All of it. Just watching the scene in front of her was making Marinette’s insides melt.

_I might actually die from being exposed to too much cuteness._

“What’s wrong, princess? Cat got your tongue?” his smile morphed into one of those ridiculous shit-eating grins. _Oh no he didn’t._

“Excuse me, I believe that was _my_ line. Or did you have such a good time last night that you can’t even remember?”

“Oh, I remember. I remember very well,” he had started waggling his eyebrows at her, but the effect was somewhat ruined when a white kitten with black patches decided to walk across his face. Marinette couldn’t help but laugh as Chat started sputtering, trying to get cat hair out of his mouth.

“Here, let me help with that,” Marinette scooped up the black and white kitten in her arms as Chat spat out the last of the cat hair. Despite the furry assault, his face was still lit up like a child watching a fireworks show. This was definitely the happiest she’d seen him in a long time, if ever.

And that happiness looked damn attractive on him.

Despite his dark suit and blanket of kittens, he had a glow about him. Which was partly due to the evening sun hanging low in the sky and making everything look exquisitely golden. The other factor was probably a residual effect from the night before. Marinette looked at her boyfriend, her partner, and saw a concentrated shining star, bright enough to outshine the morning sun. Full of kindness and light, no matter how much shit the world kept throwing at him.

Marinette felt something stir in her chest, not quite sure what to call it.

“Hey, what’cha thinking about?” Chat asked.

“Nothing, just wondering why you’re here so early tonight.” Though it wasn’t what she was originally dwelling on, she was curious as to why the stray kitty had arrived on her terrace so early. Surely it wasn’t because of the cat food she had put out.

“Well, I kind of completely skipped my entire civilian-life schedule. Because I locked the door to my room and told my father I was sick and needed to be left alone for the entire day. I was actually kind of surprised it worked.”

“Awww, did I make you lovesick, silly kitty?”

“Indeed you did,” he winked up at her. “But also, I was trying for over an hour to cover _this_ sucker up and wasn’t getting anywhere, and there was no way I could go around as my civilian self without someone noticing and asking questions.” Chat extricated his right hand from underneath a kitten to point to a spot just below his jawline.

_Woah, she had done THAT to him?_ The mark she had burned into his flesh with her mouth last night had mutated into a swollen purplish bruise on the side of his neck, just high enough that even a fashionable scarf wouldn’t be able to hide it.

“Ohmigod, Chat, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to - ”

“It’s fine! Really, it looks a lot worse than it is.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I actually kind of like it,” a mischievous twinkle danced across his eyes.

“But… covering it…”

“I mean, yeah, it’s a little inconvenient, but hopefully tomorrow the swelling will go down enough so that the concealer I have will do the trick.”

_Hmmm, so whatever Chat did as a civilian involved using makeup. Maybe an actor of some sorts? Otherwise teenage boys didn’t typically have concealer readily on hand…_

“Marinette?” The superhero’s voice broke her out of her musings.

“Yeah?”

“You keep spacing out. Are _you_ okay?”

“Oh! Yeah, sorry. I just spent all day helping out with the bakery, is all, and I still have to finish my calculus homework, so I guess I’m a little distracted.” _Part truth, part lie – calculus homework would never cause her to be distracted._

“Hey, I could help you with your homework if you want! This cat happens to be pretty smart when it comes to math.”

“Actually, yeah, that would be really helpful, I’ve been stuck on a couple problems all weekend. Let me just go down and grab my stuff.”

“No need to lug those heavy books upstairs, I can just join you inside. If that’s alright, that is.”

Marinette gave Chat a once-over, noticing he was still very much buried underneath a pile of fuzzy kittens. “I dunno, it looks like your new friends aren’t going to let you go anywhere.”

Looking around at the sea of fur he was swimming in, Chat slowly started sitting up and pulling his remaining limbs out from under the kittens. His face was screwed up in a picture of pure concentration, his pink tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth.

_HE’S TOO CUTE THIS IS TOO CUTE MAKE IT STOP_

As he gradually stood up, the kittens fell away from his body and found other things to occupy themselves with – a few still stood by him to nuzzle against his boots, but the rest scattered across the terrace to bat at plants, sit on various things to see if they fit, or push around the now empty food bowl. Chat flashed her one of his winning smiles, placing his hands on his hips like he had just saved the world, “Ha! I am the master of all cats!”

“All except one,” Marinette giggled, pointing to his head. One of the calico kittens was still nestled into his hair and clinging on for dear life. He reached up and carefully extricated the little fuzzball from his head, setting it on the ground. 

“There. Now can we go inside? If it’s alright, this cat would really like to eat some food meant for humans. The stuff my new friends were eating didn’t really _cat_ ch my fancy.” 

“Only if you promise to keep your puns to a minimum,” she lightly scolded.

“I can _paw_ mise to try.”

Marinette sighed as she lifted up the trapdoor, the corners of her mouth creeping up into a smile. His puns may be terrible, but if she had to be honest they were kind of endearing. “Just make sure you keep your voice down this time, _chaton_. My parents let me off the hook for now, but if they find out that one of Paris’s favorite superheroes has been sneaking into my room at night they’ll surely kill me.”

“If I have enough to keep my mouth occupied, I won’t make a sound,” he winked at her as he dropped through the opening in the roof, gracefully landing on the floor below. Marinette studied his expression as he looked up at her, offering a clawed hand to help her down the ladder.

And suddenly she wasn’t sure if he was talking about croissants or something else entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That feeling when you had an idea of where you were taking the story, but then it formed a mind of its own and you're just along for the ride. The only thing I was certain of going into this were all the fluffy kittens. Everything else just kind of spawned of its own accord.
> 
> I won't be doing a whole lot for the next couple weeks until I start my new job, so assuming I can figure out what's happening in the last few chapters this little adventure might actually be finished by the end of the month. Maybe. We'll see what happens.


	5. Trust Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where focusing on math homework is hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on the day 5 prompt from [Marichat week](https://marichatweek.tumblr.com/prompts).
> 
> Hooooo boy this one turned out to be kinda long. Beware, feelings and SIN lie ahead. Man, is there sin.
> 
> This is where I would say take me to church because I have sinned, but in an ironic twist I was in the middle of writing all kinds of sin when I had to pause to _actually go to church_. And then I came back and immediately started sinning again.
> 
> I am a sinner.
> 
> This is who I am now.

Adrien sat contently next to Marinette at her desk, stretching his feet out in front of him and folding his clawed hands behind his head. She was busy shuffling her homework papers around, trying to find the place where she left off, so he took the time to look around her room now that it was properly lit. It had been a long time since he had been here without his catsuit on, and a lot had changed since then. Her walls were plastered with various design sketches and clippings from fashion magazines, so much so that you could barely tell what color her walls were underneath. But if you looked closely enough, you could see little patches of soft pink poking through the endless array of papers and colors and lines.

That much was still the same – her room was very pink. Not in a bad way, like if you had been shrunken down and stuck inside Barbie’s Dreamhouse. No, Marinette’s room was just the right combination of pinks and purples that made it warm, cozy, and friendly. It was all very well put together. It was all very ‘Marinette’.

He glanced over at the other side of her desk and was a little startled to find a framed photo of himself (as Adrien, not Chat Noir) staring back at him. _Had that always been there?_

“Hey, princess, who’s that blonde in the picture over there?” he inquired, interrupting her search.

“Oh! Uh, t-that’s Adrien Agreste. Famous fashion model. Son of Gabriel Agreste,” she stammered out. “He used to go to school with us for a few years, but this year his dad forced him to be homeschooled again. I haven’t seen him in over a month.”

_If only she knew._

“Is that why you keep a picture of him on your desk? Because you miss him?”

“Y-yes. Uh, I mean no. I mean… ugh!” _She’s so cute when she gets flustered._ She swiveled in her chair to look him directly in the eyes. “Okay, if I tell you something, Chat, do you promise not to laugh?”

“Only if it’s not funny,” he replied with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes before continuing. “Well, for the longest time I had a crush on him. A huge crush. Giant crush. Most days I could barely spit out complete sentences around him...”

Chat hoped that it wasn’t too obvious when he felt his eyes widen in shock. _Marinette… liked him? The normal him, without the catsuit? Oh god, that explained so much! The stuttering, the shyness…_ he had always just thought she was afraid of him for some reason. In retrospect, he had been stupidly oblivious.

He felt like his heart had floated up into the air and taken the rest of his body with it.

“… but now, well,” Marinette continued, “now you’re in the picture, and I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again… I dunno. I’m still trying to sort some things out.” There was a quiet thud as her right elbow landed on her desk, propping up her head with her arm.

_Oh, the irony- he was **literally** in the picture. _ He noticed her furrowed brows and tightly drawn lips, wishing he could just drop his transformation right then and there to clear everything up for her. But that would probably just cause her to go into a state of shock. Not to mention Ladybug would hand him his ass on a silver platter if she found out he had revealed his identity to someone.

He instead opted to put a reassuring arm around her shoulders. “Hey, whatever’s meant to be, will be. A very wise fortune cookie once told me that some people are destined to be together.”

“So, it doesn’t bother you that I might still have feelings for someone else?”

“I know that a part of you will always care for me, and to me that’s more than enough.” It also helped that there wasn’t actually any competition. He wasn’t sure how he would have reacted if there really had been someone else vying for Marinette’s affection.

Then a pang of guilt dug its way into his stomach. Because even though kind, compassionate Marinette had recently become the center of his galaxy, there was still a part of him that was under the gravitational pull of Ladybug. His guilt must have worked its way up to his face, because a concerned gaze crossed Marinette’s face as she reached out to tenderly cup his cheek with her hand.

“Ladybug?” she whispered, reading his expression.

Chat responded with a deep sigh, “I can’t seem to get that spotted lady out of my head sometimes.” Looking deep into her ocean-blue eyes, so much like Ladybug’s and yet so different, he found nothing but understanding.

“I guess that makes us two birds of a feather, then.”

“Careful, if you say ‘feather’ three times I might sneeze.”

“Silly kitty.” Marinette dragged her chair closer to his to eliminate the small distance between them. She then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, burying her face in his hair. “Hey, whatever happens, happens. A stupid cat once told me that some people are destined to be together.” Her muffled giggles were music to his ears.

_Wait._

_Did she know something he didn’t?_

_Like how he knew her affections were torn between two people who were actually the_ same _person?_

_No… it couldn’t be. …could it??_

Seeing a dark blue pigtail out of the corner of his eye, looking familiar and yet foreign at the same time, he felt the muscles in his back stiffen. Marinette must have felt it too, for she adjusted her head so that she could murmur in his ear, face still hidden from his line of sight, “Chat… do you trust me?”

“Huh? What? Trust what?”

“Trust _me_ , silly.”

“Uh…”

“ _Chaton_ , just because you still have feelings for Ladybug doesn’t change how I feel about you. I knew going into this that would probably be the case. And I’m okay with that. I don’t know how long whatever this thing we have right now will last, but I’m not afraid. So long as at the end of the day we’re here for each other when the other one needs it, that will be enough.

“So trust me when I say I’ll always care about you, no matter what.”

He could feel his muscles relax. _False alarm._ He had simply overanalyzed the situation. There was no way Marinette and Ladybug could be the same person – they may have similar features, but their personalities were so different there was no way they could be the same. Nope. No way.

As his thoughts calmed down and the weight of Marinette’s words settled in, he felt his chest swell with warmth. He gently pushed her away, not enough to completely break their embrace, but enough so that he could look upon her face. Her beautiful blue eyes were shining as if she were holding back tears.

“Mari?” he muttered, his voice low and tender.

“Yeah?”

“I love you.” The words felt smooth and natural even before they rolled off his tongue.

Marinette squeezed against him, once again burying her face against him. “I love you too, Chat Noir.” He felt a couple damp tears trailing down his neck as they escaped from her eyes.

If they could just stay in this moment together, forever, that would be enough.

Marinette sniffled a little as she pulled away from him, her eyes shining brighter than ever. “Well, now that that’s all settled, how about we finally get to work on my calculus homework?”

“Oh, is that what we were doing? I could have sworn we were working on chemistry.”

Marinette’s laughter bubbled up to fill the room. “I’ll hand it to you, that one was actually pretty smooth.”

“Why thank you, milady!” Chat immediately shut his mouth, eyes going wide with the immediate realization of what he had just called her. His shock was mirrored in Marinette’s face, a nervous smile frozen on her face.

_HOLD UP how would she know about his pet name for Ladybug?!?_

_That wasn’t common knowledge, was it??_

_Wait it probably was._

_There’s probably Ladyblog footage with him using that nickname._

_And Marinette’s BFF just so happens to run the Ladyblog._

_Yep. That explains it._

_False alarm number two._

Chat covered his face with his hands. “Oh god, I’m so sorry Marinette! I don’t know what I was thinking! Well, actually it was more like I wasn’t thinking, but – “

“No, uh, it’s alright. I don’t mind. I was, uh, just a little surprised, is all.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Just… I dunno, maybe you should still stick with different pet names for me. It feels kinda weird being compared to Ladybug.”

“No problem, princess,” he sighed with relief. “Though for what it’s worth, I’d say you’re easily just as fantastic as Ladybug any day, in your own way.”

A rosy blush spread across her cheeks. “Awww, Chat! I’m flattered!

“But flattery won’t get my calculus homework done any faster.”

_Oh right, her homework._

Marinette scooted her chair back over in front of her notebook, Chat pulling his beside her so he could easily look over her shoulder. She opened her textbook to the spot where she had left off earlier that weekend and pointed to the page with her pencil.

“Okay, so I’ve been stuck on problem 16 – I can’t seem to get the right answer no matter what I do!” she pouted.

“Hmmmm, that doesn’t bode well, princess. You see, right here we have a problem that is an _integral_ part of calculus.”

“Chat.”

“What, was that pun a little too _derivative_ for your tastes?”

“Ohmigod stop.”

\---

Marinette let her head fall onto the table with a loud _THUNK_. “Chat, this is hopeless. We’ve been going at this for over an hour and I’m only halfway done.”

Adrien reassuringly placed a gloved hand on her back, rubbing it in small, soothing circles to help her calm down. He had been trying to coach Marinette through her homework, and although she was insanely good at a lot of things, math seemed to be her weakness. Specifically, calculus. And he honestly didn’t blame her. The only reason he was any good at it was because his father had drilled all that stuff into his head before high school even started.

“Maybe we should take a short break, princess – it might be easier to think after we’ve had a snack or something.” And right on cue, his stomach let out a low growl.

Marinette couldn’t help but giggle. “Alright, kitty. I’ll go down and see what kind of food I can find.” She dragged herself up from her chair and walked over to her bedroom door. She reached down to open the trapdoor, but stopped short before pulling up on the latch. “Chat, you should probably hide in case one of my parents comes snooping around.”

He quickly scanned the room. “And where do you suggest I do that?”

“I don’t know! Just hide in my closet, I guess, there should be plenty of space in there.”

With a slight bow, Chat strolled across the room and opened the closet door. After stepping inside, he gave a two-fingered salute to Marinette before shutting himself inside. “I’ll be waiting, princess.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, yeah.”

And with that he closed the closet door, his eyes quickly adjusting to the dark thanks to his night vision. _Wow, she owns a lot of the same pair of pink jeans._ Looking around, he noticed a few unfinished dresses hanging up closer to the back. _Hmmm, those must be her current projects._

But it was what was behind the dresses that caught his attention.

The Chat Noir costume from the night before.

He could feel his body temperature rising just thinking about it. He sighed internally. _If only there had been a way to –_

Then his eyes focused in on the mask that went with the costume.

And then he got an idea. A sinful idea. Chat Noir got a wonderful, sinful idea.

Detaching the mask from the hanger, he released his transformation. A very disgruntled Plagg came rocketing out of his ring.

“Oh no, what are you up to now?” the kwami grunted.

“Plagg, I have a question.”

“Then ask it. I’m not getting any younger.”

“Whatever I’m wearing, or what I look like, before I transform will still be there exactly the same way after I release the transformation, right?”

“Of course. They say there are no dumb questions, but that one comes pretty close.”

Adrien rolled his eyes at his kwami as he slipped the costume mask on over his face. Luckily he had chosen to wear a non-descript t-shirt and jeans today instead of his signature outfit, so Marinette shouldn’t be able to recognize him when the time came. Then, all of a sudden, he felt his kwami messing around with his hair.

“Hey! Plagg, what are you doing?”

“Kid, your hair is a dead giveaway. And since you’re so intent on keeping your identity a secret, I’m ‘Chatting’ it up for you.”

_Plagg was voluntarily helping him for once? He must want something in return._

“And before you even ask, I want triple the camembert tonight.” _There it was._ “Though not having to magic away whatever mess you decide to make will be a reward in itself.”

Adrien felt the heat rising to his cheeks. “Sorry about that.”

“Yeah, whatever. It just means you owe me more even more cheese.”

“Consider it done. Now, transform me, Plagg!”

He heard Plagg mutter, “You sure are putting me through my paces tonight, kid,” as the kwami zipped back into his ring. Adrien felt the familiar catsuit molding onto his skin, his night vision and heightened sense of hearing returning. And just in time, because he could hear Marinette’s steady footfalls climbing the steps to her room.

A few moments later, he heard the trapdoor creak open and then softly shut as Marinette entered the room, followed by a metallic clicking. _Ah, so she_ did _have a lock. Good to know._

“ _Chaton_?” Marinette softly called out. Adrien took that as his cue to leave the closet. She had come back with a plate full of leftover bakery treats, and he felt his mouth start to water when he noticed a few croissants poking out of the pile.

“May I?” he asked hungrily.

Her giggles were like little bubbles floating on the surface of a clear pond. “Of course! I guess I should have fed my favorite kitten a while ago,” she mused sheepishly, bringing up a hand to scratch behind her head after carefully setting down the plate.

“Late food is better than no food,” he teased, immediately folding his legs under him so that he was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to the food. After doing a cute little stretch to straighten a kink in her spine, Marinette sat down to join him.

They sat together in silence on the floor for a while, Chat hastily shoving croissants into his mouth while Marinette chewed thoughtfully on a danish. After he quickly finished his third croissant, he looked up at his girlfriend and noticed she was staring off into space, holding her half-eaten danish in her hand. She looked like she was in the middle of a troubling train of thought.

“Hey, Marinette, what’s up? Please don’t tell me you’re still working on that last math problem in your head.”

She blinked a couple times before focusing her eyes on Chat. “Wha-? Oh, no, it’s nothing.”

“You’re a horrible liar, princess. Tell me, what’s bugging you?”

“I… it’s just…” she took a deep breath to steady herself. “Ladybug. That’s what’s bugging me.”

“I thought we already covered all that earlier,” he said, raising a concerned eyebrow in her direction.

“I know. And my stance on that hasn’t changed. It’s perfectly fine that you still have feelings for her. That doesn’t really bother me.”

“Then what _is_ bothering you?”

She set down her unfinished pastry and nervously intertwined her fingers together in her lap. “I just… I still wonder sometimes why you’ve picked me. Plain Marinette. Especially compared to her.” Her voice was so soft he might not have heard her if not for his enhanced hearing.

_Plain? There’s absolutely nothing plain about her!_

“Well, for one thing, you always feed me!” he laughed, attempting to lighten the atmosphere of the room. Marinette shot him a small scowl in return. _Okay, apparently now is not a good time to try humor._

“Hey,” he continued, placing a hand on her shoulder, “Sure, Ladybug is great. I admire her courage, her strength, her ingenuity. And I know she’s always got my back, the same way I’ll always have hers.”

“Chat, that’s not helping.”

“Hold on, let me finish! But the partnership we have? It more so out of necessity. We’re a crime-fighting duo, and we can’t do our job without the other one being there. So even though I would have liked to have something romantic with Ladybug, especially at first, over the years it’s just kind of… I don’t know. I know she cares about me, but more so in a brotherly way. Not in the same way I see her. So I guess after all this time, I’m just now finally realizing I need to move on somehow.

“And that’s where you come in.

“You see, Marinette, you didn’t _have_ to keep putting out food for me. You didn’t _have_ to talk with me when I kept stopping by your house. For crying out loud, you didn’t even have to give me the time of day! But you _did_. You’ve cared for me because you wanted to, not because you had to. You’re compassionate, warm, sharp-witted, creative, genuinely friendly, and everything else I’ve been missing in my life rolled up into one fantastic person.

“ _You_ are the one who’s there for me when no one else seems to care. You said it yourself earlier, that you’ll always care for me no matter what.

“And at the end of the day, no matter how much I adore Ladybug, faults and all, _you_ are the one who fills my empty spaces and makes me feel like I’m _worth_ something. _You_ , Marinette. Not a kick-butt protector of Paris. _You._ So don’t ever doubt that, please.”

Marinette leaned over and tightly embraced him, wrapping her arms around his neck while burying her face against him. _This seemed to be a theme tonight_. “I’m so sorry, Chat, I shouldn’t have…” she trailed off, and Adrien felt warm tears smudge up against his neck for the second time that night.

“Shhhhh, hey now, no need to apologize. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“But Ladybug is a fool.” Her voice was muffled against his shoulder, but he could still hear her breath hitching in her throat loud and clear.

“Maybe. But so are a lot of people in my life that I know. And none of it is your fault.”

Marinette pulled away from him so she could look him in the face, eyes bright with tears. “Chat…” her voice was interlaced with uncertainty and guilt.

“Not your fault,” Adrien softly repeated, gently cradling her head as he planted a tender kiss on her forehead. He let his lips linger, breathing in the scent of bread that was wafting up from her hair.

When he finally leaned back, he noticed the last of her tears were trickling down her cheeks. Her head angled downward, she looked up at him through dark long eyelashes. “Chat Noir,” she whispered, “I don’t deserve you. You’re too good to me.”

“Nonsense, I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you.”

The corner of Marinette’s mouth curved upwards in a resigned smile. “Fine. Agree to disagree.”

“I can live with that.”

“For all nine of your lives, or just one?” she teased.

“You’ve got to be _kitten_ me right now.”

“What? I thought you would apurrreciate that one!”

“It was amewsing, I’ll give you that,” he smirked.

“Well, I… I… darn it, you win this time, kitty,” Marinette huffed, crossing her arms in a cute little pout while staring down Chat straight in the eyes. She held that pose for all of five seconds before a couple strangled snorts made their way out of her nose, resulting in a full-on fit of snickering. Chat joined in as they both collapsed on their backs on the floor, their muffled laughter fueled on by each other’s attempts to keep their noisemaking to a minimum, aware of the fact that it was well past the time when her parents go to sleep.

After their giggles finally subsided, Chat stretched his arms out above him before nestling them behind his head. He shifted so he look at Marinette. She was lying beside him propped up on one arm, looking at him with nothing short of adoration. She didn’t need to say anything – her eyes said enough.

“So, princess, ready to tackle the rest of your homework?”

A mischievous glint crossed her face. “Not yet.”

He could have sworn his heart skipped a couple beats.

While he remained sprawled out on her floor, Marinette got up to move the mostly empty plate of pastries to the safety of her desk. Then she turned around, looking down at him with her hands on her hips. “I thought maybe we could have a little play time, first.”

That time his heart definitely skipped three beats. Adrien could feel his internal temperature slowly climbing.

She slowly walked back over to him, her steps deliberate as she stared him down, gluing him in place. He swallowed a gulp of air as she knelt next to him and eyeballed the bruised spot on his neck from the night before.

“Now, if I remember correctly,” she crooned, “I believe we left off…”

She swung a leg over him to straddle his hips.

“… here.”

He let out a low groan. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I swear you are more dangerous than an akuma on the loose during rush hour.”

“So what are you going to do about it?” she dared.

He brought his hands from behind his head to cover hers where they were pressing into his chest. He felt his lips curl upwards in a sly grin.

“This.”

Shifting to hook one of her legs, he lifted up at an angle with his hips to swiftly roll her over. Being careful not to slam her back against the floor, he contemplated her with a smoldering gaze, satisfied with the reversal of positions.

Marinette reached up and grasped him by the collar with both hands, drawing his face down to her level so that their noses touched. There was a fire dancing behind her aqua eyes, giving him the feeling that he was about to simultaneously drown and burn to a crisp in them. Then she murmured so low that no one else in the world could possibly hear them, “Kiss me, _chaton_.”

That burning, aching feeling swelled up inside of him again. And suddenly in that moment, he didn’t want to just kiss the girl lying underneath him.

He wanted to taste her.

_Devour her._

He hungrily closed the gap between them, tasting the buttery remains of her danish as her lips kneaded against his. He quickly moved his attention to the corner of her mouth and down her chin, working frantically along her jawline. She mewled softly in his ear as his tongue and teeth traveled across her skin to find all of her sensitive spots. Her skin tasted sweet and sugary, dotted with the occasional patch of concentrated vanilla from when she must have had some splash up in her face earlier in the day.

_Oh god, she tasted heavenly._

He drifted down her neck, stopping to pause where her collarbone peeked about above the neckline of her shirt. At this point Marinette had relinquished her hold on his suit, letting her arms fall back above her head in a submissive manner.

Yet somehow it still felt like she was the one in control of the situation.

Chat brought a hand up to lightly tug at the collar of her shirt, moving it aside in order to run his lips along the entirety of her collarbone. As she arched up into him, he slid his other hand up the gap between her shirt and her back, ever so slightly pressing his claws into the skin at the small of her back.

“Oh god… Chat…” she panted. Her voice alone was nearly enough to make him come undone.

He smiled against her as he surveyed the effect he was having on her. The sight of her splayed out on the ground in front of him, eyes squeezed shut, a rosy blush forming along her neck and cheeks, was nearly enough to knock him out.

She opened one eye to glare at him. “Kitty, why did you stop?”

“Sorry, princess, I got a little distracted.” He winked at her and went back to work on her collarbone, sucking and nipping at her skin.

He heard her gasp. “Chat?”

“Hmmm?”

“I think you’ve given that spot enough attention for now.”

With a parting nip, he shifted so that he was back at her neck, placing hot, burning kisses under her jaw where her pulse point was. Much like she had done the night before.

“ _Chat._ ”

“Yes?” he murmured in between kisses.

“That’s not what I meant.”

He lifted his head, furrowing his eyebrows quizzically at her. “Then what - ?”

“Your outfit may not come off,” she whispered into his ear, “ _but mine does_.”

Oh.

_OH._

He felt his eyes widen with realization. Fumbling, he moved both of his hands to grip the hem of her shirt, freezing up as he held the cotton fabric between his fingers.

_Was this really happening?_

He locked eyes with Marinette, and she gave him a silent nod.

_Okay then._

Moving slowly to try and contain his mixture of nerves and excitement, he began lifting her shirt up her torso. He found his gazed glued to the hemline as it passed over her, vaguely aware of the smooth creamy skin being exposed as he worked. When he reached the place where her shoulders met the floor, she used him as leverage to sit up and help him pull the shirt up over her head. Then Marinette snatched the shirt from him and threw it in the direction of her closet before resuming her position underneath him, an exhilarated glow filling her expression.

_If seeing her in that catsuit had been a dream, this had to be a scene straight out of heaven._

Finally working up the courage to fully take in the view, Adrien sat back on his heels. There was something very captivating about looking at the curve of her waist and the lean line of muscles that ran across her shoulders and arms without having any fabric covering them. _Well, save for one article of fabric_ , he corrected as he laid eyes on her bra, watching it rise and fall with the heaving of her chest as she breathed.

And suddenly he was seeing spots.

Literally.

The fabric cupping her pert breasts was a deep ruby red covered in black polka-dots. His breath hitched in his windpipe as his eyes flicked up to meet Marinette’s. He visibly saw her blush deepen as a look of panic creeped across her features.

“Marinette,” he said, tasting the sweetness of her name as he formed it on his tongue, “everything is fine.”

Her only response was to nervously chew on her lower lip.

“You look good in spots,” he continued, leaning forward so he could murmur in her ear. “Dare I say, even better than Ladybug?”

He sensed her become tense at his last remark. _Why did this girl keep freaking out every time he mentioned her and Ladybug in the same sentence?_

“Marinette, are you okay? I’ve never done anything like this before and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable because I already feel like an idiot and if I’ve done anything or said anything wrong – “

“Chat, shhhhh, it’s fine. You’re fine. You’re more than fine, actually,” she smiled up at him, her muscles unwinding as she reached up to hold either side of his face. “I, uh, just forgot what I had put on this morning, is all, and I was worried about freaking _you_ out.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and planted a short, sweet kiss on her lips. “Cool, so we’re all good then,” he said, winking at her. “I was being serious, though – you look _really_ good in spots.”

He watched, satisfied, as her blush spread down her neck and across the top of her chest. As Chat repositioned himself over her, he felt Marinette’s fingers intertwine against his scalp under his mop of blonde hair. He flashed her a cat-like grin. “Now, where was I?”

He descended onto her upper chest, hearing a small whimper come from Marinette as his lips brushed against the tops of her breasts. His right hand resumed its position at the small of her back, allowing his other hand to trail up and down her side. He gave a low grunt of pleasure when she twitched against him in response to lightly tickling the curve of her waist with his claws. He let his mouth wander further down her chest to where her breasts peeked out above her bra, greedily sucking and lapping at her flesh.

_Oh god, she’s so soft._

He lingered there for a while, his desire to leave his mark on her skin burning him from the inside out. As he focused his ministrations on the swell of her right breast, his hands shifted down her back and sides to rest on her hips, just where her uncovered skin met the top of her jeans. He felt like he was holding onto her for dear life as her hips started pressing upward, seeking him out.

With a firm grip, he kept her pressed against the floor. Tonight he wanted her to feel the same way he had a mere 24 hours ago. He could feel the bulge of his erection against his suit, and if last night was any indication it wouldn’t take a lot of contact to finish him off. And he needed to make sure he took care of Marinette first.

And he had promised Plagg he wouldn’t finish in the suit again.

She whined in frustration as her fingers dug into the back of his head, the whine morphing into a stifled squeal as he sucked particularly hard on her breast. “Chat!” she hissed, “What was that for?”

“I a _paw_ logize, my fair maiden, I just wanted to ensure we have matching marks,” he said innocently, conspicuously craning his neck to make sure she had a clear view of the purple splotch she had given him the night before.

With a giggle, she ruffled the hair behind his ears. “Fine. I’ll give you that one.” He felt her hips straining against his hands again. “Now if you would just let me – “

“Princess, I have a plan. A plan to make you blissfully happy. But that does not include me turning into quivering useless kitten again. Not yet. Not ‘til you’re ridiculously happy.”

She gave a small laugh, her tone laced with pure, unadulterated longing. “Then what are you waiting for?”

He smiled down at her as he swooped in to kiss her lips, still holding her hips firmly in place. _God, she was strong_. He wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to hold her at bay.

Carefully, as he painstakingly dragged his teeth along her lower lip, he slid his right hand around the front of her jeans so that his hand was squarely between her legs. She moaned into his mouth as he slowly increased the pressure against her. She eagerly started to grind in small circles against his hand, each pass stoking the flame that had started raging in his stomach.

When Adrien paused the kiss to catch his breath, he saw a pair of dangerously bright eyes staring up at him.

“Chat, please.”

“Yes, princess?”

“ _More._ ”

Who would have thought that gentle, sweet, shy Marinette could be so… for lack of a better word, _horny?_

Not that he didn’t feel the exact same way right now.

He hungrily mashed their lips together again, continuing to gradually increase the pressure of his hand on her between her legs. After a few seconds, her fingers that were tangled in his hair pulled his head up, just enough so that there was space between their lips for her to speak.

“ _Chat._ ”

He stared at her in confusion.

“My pants come off, too.” Immediately after the words left her mouth, a mixture of lust and embarrassment crossed her face.

Oh.

_OH._

Adrien shifted back onto his heels as Marinette relinquished her grasp on his scalp. After fumbling for a moment with the button, he shuffled backwards as he pulled the light pink jeans over her hips and down her legs. She helped him kick them off the rest of the way, and he tossed them to the side where her shirt had landed earlier.

He looked back at her, taking in how her rapid breathing looked ridiculously attractive as she lay sprawled out on the floor of her bedroom. He surveyed her newly uncovered legs, marveling at how toned her muscles were. And the way her waist curved into the swell of her hips was eye-pleasingly proportional.

He had to remind himself to breathe.

He settled back down between her legs, his lips curving up in a smile as he noticed her underwear matched her bra. Not that he expected any less from fashion-conscious Marinette. 

Gently, oh so gently, he ran his thumb along her center, being careful to keep his claws away from the delicate material. Marinette was watching him closely, squirming and whimpering as she tried to stay still for fear of what would happen if she pressed up too quickly against his claws.

He was venturing into completely unknown territory here, but he was pretty sure that having his claws out in this situation was a recipe for disaster.

He leaned forward so that his hands were planted on either side of her head. Looking her straight in the eye, he asked, “Marinette, do you trust me?”

“Huh?”

“ _Do you trust me?_ ” he repeated in an urgent tone.

“Of course I do.”

He shifted his hands so they were holding her wrists in place, pinning her to the ground. “Okay, don’t freak out.”

Her eyes, previously glazed over with lust, widened in fear as he willed Plagg to release his transformation, a bright green light traveling up his body.

“ _CHAT WHAT THE HELL?_ ” she hissed loudly, squeezing her eyes shut.

After the last of the green light had vanished, and feeling the weight of the costume mask exactly where he left it, he playfully kissed her nose. “Princess, please open your eyes. I pawmise my identity is still hidden.”

She warily peeked at him with one eye, then immediately opened both when she saw his masked face. “But… how?”

“I might have borrowed the mask from your costume you left in the closet.” He winked down at her.

“Hmmm,” she regarded him with a careful gaze, no doubt examining his eyes that, though they were still green, no longer looked quite as feline.

“Just be careful, though, because the only thing holding this mask in place is a stretchy piece of elastic. Unless you really wanted to see my real face, that is.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

“I’m still pretty sure it would be best if I don’t know your real identity. I don’t want to become a liability.”

“Suit yourself,” he said, caressing her cheeks with his bare hands. She sighed softly at his touch, clearly enjoying the feeling of his skin against hers as much as he was. Her hands now freed, she grabbed for the hem of his t-shirt.

She looked up at him with a mischievous smirk. “Please, Chat?” she pleaded, brushing a couple of her fingers against his stomach. Her light touch made him feel as if he was about to spontaneously combust.

“Alright, I guess. I still have work to do, though,” he made it a point to sound exasperated, but he was secretly extremely giddy at the thought of being shirtless around her. Around Marinette.

“Then I’ll just watch you while you work.” Now it was her turn to wink at him as her fingers deftly yanked his shirt up the length of his torso. He helped her get it over his shoulders and clear his head, carefully avoiding the mask. After it was free of his body, she made to throw it in the same pile with her own discarded clothes, but froze up mid throw. “Whaaa - ?”

Plagg was still floating in the air next to them, and Marinette had just now spotted the little pest.

“Plagg!” Adrien hissed.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your girlfriend? I think I deserve at least that much, with everything I have to put up with,” the kwami grumbled.

“Fine. Plagg, this is Marinette. Marinette, Plagg. My kwami.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow in response.

“He’s the reason I’m able to transform and all that. And he stinks because all he eats is cheese.”

“Rude,” Plagg complained as he folded his tiny arms in front of him.

“Hey, are you satisfied yet? Or do you want me to continue going on about how you stink?”

Plagg rolled his eyes at his chosen. “I’m going to go hide in the corner. Don’t call me until you’re done.” And with that, he zipped off across the room to bury himself in the pile of pillows on Marinette’s bed. Adrien heard a couple high-pitched squeaks come from that direction, so he strained to try and hear what his kwami was up to. The last thing he needed was Plagg messing with Marinette’s stuff.

Hastily, Marinette finally tossed the t-shirt so that her hands were free to run along the front of his chest, lingering over his well-defined abs and pecs. _Oh god her touch was electrifying_. He was immediately distracted from any prior thoughts as her lips reached up to brush against the center of his chest, sending a shockwave rippling through his nervous system.

“So, kitty, I believe you still had a job to finish?”

“…oh yeah, right.”

Adrien placed a forearm above her head, bracing his upper body so that he hovered just above her. Forming a cat-like grin, he slowly snaked his right hand down her body between them, relishing how she quivered as his fingertips trailed past her breasts. Admiring the feel of her smooth skin. Basking in the combined heat that both of their bodies were giving off.

At last, his hand reached its final destination. Feeling the slightly lacy edge of her panties, he glanced down. Adrien’s heart started pounding a furious tattoo against his ribcage. His fingers nervously hovered next to the hemline, brushing past a few stray wisps of dark curly hair.

_Oh god. Okay, it’s happening. Just stay calm just stay calm just stay –_

“Chat?” Marinette’s voice was a mixture of want and worry. He brought his gaze back up to her face, noticing how she was anxiously chewing on her lower lip.

“Sorry, princess, I’m… I’m just really nervous.”

“Me too.”

There was something about admitting his nervousness, and knowing she felt the same way, that gave him a boost of confidence. First he descended upon her lips with his, tenderly kneading against them with a barely controlled passion.

Then he let his fingers delve between her skin and the fabric of her underwear.

His fingers started hesitantly at first, but grew bolder as he caressed her soft skin. _See? Nothing to be afraid of. It’s just more skin. With some hair on it. No big deal._

“ _Chaton,_ ” Marinette whined into his mouth.

“Hmm?”

“ _Lower._ ”

He momentarily paused their kiss to look down at his fingers. He was just barely inside the hem of her panties.

_Oh_.

He turned to resume the kiss, but Marinette put a hand up to block him. “I think it would be best if you didn’t try to multitask this time around.”

He nervously bit the inside of his cheek. Marinette must have seen the worry in his face, because she reached up to hold his head in her hands.

“Chat. It’s alright.”

“I… It’s just… I’ve never done this before and I don’t want to hurt you.” The words came tumbling out of his mouth like a waterfall.

“You won’t hurt me,” she said confidently, “but if anything feels uncomfortable I’ll let you know immediately. Deal?”

“Deal.” He felt a small invisible weight lift from his shoulders, but the butterflies in his stomach still raged on. Adrien shifted so that he was lying up against Marinette’s side, propped up on his left elbow so that he could easily see both her face and what he was doing. He then turned his attention to his other hand, currently resting at the bottom of her abdomen so that his fingers just barely made a bulge under the fabric that covered her. His own bulge in his pants gave a slight throb, as if he needed reminding that it was still there.

_Well, here goes._

He stretched out his arm, delving deeper into unexplored territory. When his fingers came into contact with a deep crevice between two folds of flesh, he heard Marinette take a sharp breath, her body trembling at the touch. His eyes snapped to her face, only to find a very frustrated pair of blue eyes staring back at him.

“ _Chat._ I _swear._ I will let you know if you need to stop. So keep. Going. _Please_.”

Suddenly a bubble of panic rose in his chest.

_Keep going where? What was he supposed to do? He didn’t know what to do. Oh my god he didn’t know what to do. He had never learned about this. Any of this. He had never even learned about female anatomy because his dad didn’t feel like it was necessary oh for fuck’s sake what is he supposed to do next???_

Adrien felt his breathing turn ragged, and try as he might he was unable to calm himself down. His limbs began to tremble violently, rapidly replacing any previous feelings of heat and passion that had filled his senses. He sat up, immediately feeling empty at having to break contact with her body. But it was all he could do to sit there with his head covered by his hands, trying to maintain as much composure as he could so he didn’t end up a heaping, crying mess on Marinette’s floor.

_He felt like crap. Worst boyfriend of the year._

As a sob tried to escape his lips, he felt Marinette shift beside him so she was sitting up next to him, rubbing soothing circles into the exposed skin of his back.

“Oh my god, Chat, I’m so sorry,” her voice was barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry if I pushed you too far. I’m sorry if - “

“No… n-not you… me… I… I-I just wanted, b-but… and I don’t…” he unintelligibly spit out between gasps. He felt Marinette’s head rest on his shoulder, one hand gently placing itself in the crook of his left elbow while the other continued rubbing his back.

They sat together like that on her floor for what seemed like an eternity. Adrien gave in and let the panic-induced tears welling up behind his eyelids stream over the costume mask and down his face, the droplets of salt water making soft dripping noises as they fell off his chin and onto the carpet. After some time, the flow of tears finally subsided as his breathing gradually leveled out.

Marinette must have sensed he was leveling out, for he felt her warmth leave his side and heard the muted creak of her footsteps as she walked across the room. The rustle of cloth told him that she was putting her clothes back on. Then not a moment later, he felt her presence back at his side, resuming her comforting strokes along his back.

He inhaled deeply, letting the breath slowly hiss out his nose before lifting his head. Turning ever so slightly to look at her, he saw that her face was wracked with concern.

“Chat. Please talk to me,” she pleaded.

“I’m sorry, I… I don’t quite know what that was.”

She regarded him carefully before weighing in. “From what I can gather, that almost seemed like a panic attack.” _Oh, well that’s just fine and dandy._ “Chat… if you don’t mind telling me, do you remember what brought it on?”

“I was thinking I didn’t know what to do. That I _should_ have known what to do, but I _didn’t_.” He took another deep breath before continuing, his voice gradually gaining strength as he talked it out. “All my life everyone has expected me to be perfect. Absolutely flawless. Well, my civilian side, that is. But at least when I’m Chat Noir, I’m allowed to make mistakes. As long as I help Ladybug get the job done, it doesn’t matter. So even when my bad luck kicks in and I screw something up, I still know everything will be fine in the end.

“But when I’m with you, I don’t want to make mistakes. Because you deserve so much more than just a walking bad luck charm, especially after all the kindness you keep showing me. And it’s not like I have Ladybug to balance me out in this case, it’s just me. And ‘just me’ has failed. I couldn’t give you what you needed when I was transformed. And I couldn’t figure out how to give you what you needed when I’m not transformed.

“If there’s one person in my life I actually want to be perfect for, it’s you Marinette. But I failed… I failed…”

“Chat,” she murmured, embracing him in a side-hug. “Trust me, I don’t expect you to be perfect. Hell knows I’m nowhere near perfect myself. That’s why we work so well together, you and me.

“And sure, maybe I didn’t get what I wanted tonight, but I’ve always had what I _needed_ , even if I doubt it sometimes myself. And what I need, it’s just you, _chaton_. _You_ are all I need.”

He looked across at her with a small, loving smile. She had brought his shirt over, laying it at her feet, so he picked it up and shrugged it back on. “Thanks,” he mumbled sheepishly, “I still feel bad, though. You looked so happy, until I – “

“Hush. There will be plenty more nights for us to have ‘playtime’ together. But tell me, have you ever actually had a health class? Or anything vaguely similar to that?”

Adrien shook his head.

A thoughtful, slightly mischievous look twinkled in her eye. “Well then. You need a teacher. Someone to show you the ways of Adulthood.

“And I think I know just the person to do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... what fresh hell hath my fingers wrought??
> 
> Started off with Adrien being oblivious and apparently taking a trip to Egypt because man is he in denial. (Get it? Denial? The Nile? Sometimes I think I'm funny.)  
> AND THEN I WENT AND FUCKING BROKE HIM WHAT HAVE I DONE
> 
> and you can probably guess who's gonna make a reappearance next chapter. I have ideas. it's gonna be good. hopefully. as soon as I actually write it.


	6. Don't Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where we wonder which is scarier - Alya or an akuma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on the prompt for [Marichat Week Day 6](https://marichatweek.tumblr.com/prompts).
> 
> This chapter took longer to finish than I thought. Because the season finale of Star Wars Rebels happened this week. And now I'm dead. (but it's okay, I figured out how to use the internet from beyond the grave so it's all good)
> 
> Enjoy ;)

“Seriously? Two favors in one day? Girl, I know it’s a Monday, but this is unusual even for you!”

Marinette was sitting with Alya at one of the benches in the school courtyard. Head bent over, she was in the process of cross-referencing her haphazard work on her calculus homework with Alya’s. _Okay, really it was copying. Which was essentially cheating. Ooops._ By the time she had finished helping Chat Noir calm down enough for him to go home last night (she may or may not have given him a few sweet kisses in the process), it had been well past midnight. And she never did get around to finishing her homework.

She would gladly make the same choice again in a heartbeat, though.

Marinette scribbled down the last answer before looking back up at her best friend. “Well… really the second favor isn’t for me. I mean, in a way it is… but it isn’t.”

Alya playfully crossed her arms. “What is it, then? Spit it out!”

Marinette nervously glanced around the courtyard before responding in a low voice, “You still have that PowerPoint presentation, right?”

“Wha -? Oh, yeah! Why would I ever get rid of it? After the Ladyblog, I consider it one of my crowning achievements.” Raising an eyebrow at Marinette, she continued, “Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten – “

“No! No, of course not! It’s, uh, for a friend…”

Alya leaned in close to her. “Do you by chance, when you say friend, mean a certain super-secret boyfriend you’ve still told me pretty much _nothing_ about?”

A sheepish grin crossed Marinette’s face.

“Okay, girl, first I gotta ask, how old _is_ this guy? You’re not dating a thirteen-year-old, are you? Not that I’d judge, but… well, okay, I’d be judging. Hardcore.”

“Ohmigod, no, Alya! I’m pretty sure he’s around our age. Seventeen or eighteen or something like that.”

“You’re _pretty sure_?”

“It’s never come up in conversation, okay?”

“Fine, whatever,” Alya gave a little huff. “The flash drive with the extra copy is in my room, so I can run home during lunch and grab it for you.”

“Actually… I was hoping… um, I mean, you know I’m no good at explaining any of this stuff. Not like you…” Marinette nervously scuffed her shoe on the ground in front of her.

“HOLD UP.” Alya roughly grabbed Marinette by the shoulders to turn her so they were face-to-face. She dropped her voice, aware of a group of passing students who had all turned to look at her outburst. “Does this mean I actually get to meet him?!”

“Well, it would be kinda hard to teach him if you’re not in the same room as him…” Marinette watched as a huge smile crossed her best friend’s face, a mix between excitement and deviousness. Marinette hastily continued, “You have to promise not to tell anyone about him though, okay?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said, removing a hand from Marinette’s shoulders to place it over her heart. “I hereby swear to keep your mystery man a secret until such a time comes that you are willing to publicly reveal the secret yourself. May Ladybug herself strike me down if I break this promise.”

Marinette beamed at her. If there was anyone she could always depend on, it was Alya.

Well, Alya and Chat Noir.

Boy was she going to flip when she finds out.

“So, when’s this whole shindig gonna go down? Are we going to your place after school?”

“Well… I might have already told him to meet us in one of the classrooms here after school today. I figured that would be a good neutral location.”

“You just automatically assumed I was going to say yes?” Alya raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yep! I knew you wouldn’t turn down a chance to meet him,” she replied with a wink.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I swear, you’re the sneakiest person I know. And that’s saying something.”

The two girls broke into a fit of laughter as a bell rang out across the courtyard, signaling the start of the school day.

“Well then, we’d better get to class. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I get to meet Miss Marinette’s Miraculous Mystery Man.” Alya gave her best friend’s forehead a teasing poke then ran up the stairs, Marinette closely chasing after her.

\---

After the final bell rang for the day, Alya hastily shoved her notebooks into her bag. “Come on, Marinette, hurry up!”

“Just hold your horses!” she giggled. “We have to wait for everyone else to clear out first, remember?”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t go ahead and start setting up. Now come _on_!”

Marinette deliberately reached as slowly as possible to pick up her backpack from the floor.

“Oh my god, you’re killing me, girl.”

In front of them, Nino had slung his bag over his shoulder and turned to face them. “Hey ladies, what antics are we getting up to today?”

“Nothing much, just typical best friend mischief,” Alya replied.

“I would expect nothing less,” he said, tipping the brim of his cap slightly in her direction.

“Hey, speaking of which, how’s Adrien doing? Have you heard from him lately?”

“Nah, it’s been like over a week since I’ve gotten a text from him. Dude didn’t even text me at all over the weekend, which is weird even for him.” His shoulders slumped forward a little, the worry apparent in his voice. 

“I’m sure he’s fine, Nino. He’s probably just been busy. You know how his dad gets, especially if there’s a fashion show coming up or something.” At this, Alya turned to face Marinette, looking at her expectantly.

“What?” Marinette’s eyes darted back and forth between her two friends, caught off-guard.

“Dude, don’t you usually keep track of that stuff?” Nino raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Oh, haha, yeah, right. Um… I dunno, I’d have to check.” Marinette nervously scratched a non-existent itch on the back of her head.

Unsatisfied, Nino turned his gaze back to Alya.

“She’s been a little… distracted lately,” she said, answering his wordless question.

“Ooooh, do I sense some sweet gossip brewing?”

“Nothing that your nosy nose needs to know,” Alya retorted, hands on her hips. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, Marinette and I have things to do and places to see.” Grabbing Marinette by the arm, she started dragging them towards the door. As they passed by Nino, Alya paused to look him in the eye. “But if you’re lucky, maybe I’ll put _you_ on my to-do list for later,” she emphasized with a poke squarely in the middle of his chest. 

Marinette couldn’t help but snicker as she watched Nino’s eyes widen and his cheeks acquire a dusting of red. Alya, for whatever reason, refused to put any label other than ‘friend’ on her and Nino’s relationship. But it was blatantly obvious there was _something_ going on there besides friendship.

Not that she had ever really pried into their personal life much. Marinette already had enough to deal with over the years regarding her own love life, what with both Adrien and Chat being enamored with her super alter-ego.

But now one of them had fallen in love with _her_. Regular, everyday Marinette. And no matter how much she worried Chat would find out her secret (and what he would do if/when he figured it out), the thought that someone like him could genuinely like the girl behind the mask was rather exhilarating.

 Before she knew it, Alya had already dragged her down the hall, and they had arrived in front of their now abandoned homeroom classroom. She released her death grip on Marinette’s arm to reach for the door. “You did say it was this one, right Marinette?”

“Uh, yep!”

Alya excitedly pushed open the door and stepped into the empty room, gleefully cracking her knuckles. She immediately got to work, pulling down the front projector screen while her laptop booted up on the teacher’s desk. Marinette watched hesitantly from the doorway.

“You know, Alya, I-I’ve already seen this enough, and… uh… so maybe I’ll just… uh… wait outside. A-and make sure no one barges in or anything, or… uh…”

Alya finished hooking up her laptop to the projection system and turned to face her best friend, hands on her hips. “Marinette. First, the fact that you’re getting all embarrassed on me right now means you could probably benefit from this again. Not that I’m gonna force it on you, but if you’re really that concerned about someone interrupting you can just sit by the door. _Inside_ the classroom.”

Marinette nervously chewed on the tip of one of her fingers in response.

“Second, do you really trust me and my mad interrogation skills to be in the same room as your mystery man… _alone_?” Alya teased.

At that, Marinette’s eyes widened. “NOPE,” she squeaked, quickly shuffling inside and closing the door behind her.

_Alya alone in a room with Chat Noir was a recipe for disaster. Not evil Hawkmoth-level disaster. But still disaster._

“Girl, you know you’re just going to have to open that door back up when he gets here.”

“Well, uh… errr, actually…” Marinette stuttered.

As if right on cue, a tapping sound came from the windows. Alya shook her head and laughed, pulling out her phone to quickly check her messages. “Hang on to that thought, girl, let me go scare away that pigeon first. My presentation does _not_ need sound effects from the local wildlife interrupting it.” She strolled over to the windows to open the blinds.

Marinette mentally braced herself. _Okay stay calm it’s happening WAIT was this really a good idea WHAT IF –_

The blinds opened with a whoosh.

Alya let out a strangled gasp, nearly dropping her phone.

A grinning Chat Noir was perched outside the window, nervously waving at them.

Alya whirled to look at Marinette. Then back to the window. Then back at Marinette again.

Marinette’s only response was a sheepish smile.

Alya twirled to look back at the window, where Chat was now motioning to the latch on the inside of the windowsill.

_Oh boy, Alya’s gonna get whiplash from this. Or a heart attack. Or both._

In slow motion, Alya turned to face Marinette, her face surprisingly calm. “Marinette, I love ya girl, so don’t take this the wrong way…” she started, slipping her phone back into the safety of her pocket.

_Uh-oh._

“…BUT OH. MY. GOD. I AM GOING TO KILL YOU. OUT OF ALL THE… HOW DID… WHAT… HOW… _HIM?!?_ ”

Marinette stood floored to the ground as Alya started waving her hands around frantically, not sure if she should be apologizing or laughing. She could see Chat behind her, his shoulders shaking as the sound of his muffled laughter filled the silence between Alya’s outbursts.

Alya held up a finger in Marinette’s direction, an indication she wasn’t through yet. Without turning around or lowering her hand, Alya backed up to the window. Feeling around with her other hand, she found the latch and unlocked it with a click.

There was a creak as the stiff window opened and the distant sounds of the street below floated into the room as Chat slipped inside. Standing behind Alya, he carefully closed the window to isolate the trio from the outside world. As he drew in a breath and opened his mouth to speak, Alya swiftly brought her other hand up in front of his face to silence him with a single finger as well, peering at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Nuh-uh. Nope. _Sit._ We’re gonna talk about this first.”

Marinette plopped down in the chair she had pulled up against the wall next to the door. She watched as Chat sauntered across the room, acting like he wasn’t fazed by Alya in the slightest as he relaxed into a seat in the front row.

The same seat Adrien used to sit in every morning.

_Out of all the places that stupid cat could have sat, why there?_

Chat folded his arms behind his head and propped his feet up on the desk in front of him. A cool grin crossed his face as he closed his eyes. “So, what’s up, ladies?”

Alya marched over so she was in front of him. With an outstretched hand she snapped her fingers together, causing Chat to open an eye to look at her. She pointed down at the ground, immediately causing Chat to pull his feet off the desk and sit up in his chair. It was hard to tell from this angle, but from the wide-eyed look on his face that was nothing short of terror Marinette assumed Alya was giving him one of her infamous glares.

It was a good thing Alya wasn’t Hawkmoth, otherwise she’d have taken over the world by now.

“Okay. First thing’s first, how long has this thing been going on and how in the world did it start?”

Chat raised a hand in the air. He waited for Alya to raise her eyebrows at him before he answered with another question, “Do you want the short version or the long version?”

“I’ve got all the time in the world.”

Chat gave a slight nod, then raised his hand in the air again.

“For crying out loud, just start talking.” Alya glanced sideways over at Marinette, clearly already starting to get annoyed with the superhero’s antics.

_Welcome to my world, Alya._

Chat nervously fidgeted his fingers on the desk in front of him. “Well, about a month ago I stopped by the bakery on my way home from a battle. Errr, more like I stopped by the roof. Because it smelled really good. Because there was a plate of croissants. That Marinette had left unattended. And I kind of ate them. And then I kept coming back, and she kept feeding me. And then we started _chatting_.” At this, Alya rolled her eyes. “And, uh… well, about a week ago now, I… uh… we… uh…”

Alya leaned closer to Chat, palms planted on the surface of the desk like she was interrogating a criminal. “Yes?”

“Uh… uhhhh…” he took a deep breath, “Wekindasortakissedandimighthaveaskedhertobemygirlfriendandforsomereasonshesaidyes.”

“What? I have no clue what you just said. Use spaces, man!”

Chat nervously tried to look away, but Alya had him locked in the world’s most extreme staring contest. The poor cat looked like he was in need of a litter box as Alya bared down over him. He took another deep breath and slowed his response, “We ended up kissing and I sort of asked Marinette out and she actually agreed to it.” Alya leaned in even closer, scrutinizing his expression. “Pleasedon’tkillme,” he squeaked.

Marinette watched as Alya didn’t move a muscle for a solid five seconds. Finally, the reporter-in-training stepped back and folded her arms across her chest, a huge smile spreading on her face. She could tell Chat was about to pass out from relief, and couldn’t help but snicker a little under her breath.

“Ohmigod my best friend is actually dating a superhero! I mean, I was just happy to see her finally moving on from Adrien, but to find out it’s none other than _the_ Chat Noir? This is great! OMG, I’m, like, best friends with a superhero by association, this is fantastic!”

_Oh, if only Alya knew._

Chat wiped away a couple beads of sweat that had appeared on his forehead. “Phew, I could have sworn for a minute that you were actually going to kill me.”

“Not right now. But let’s get this straight, if anything happens to Marinette because of you, and I mean _anything_ , Hawkmoth will be the least of your problems because I will hunt you down and personally pulverize you to a pulp.”

Chat gulped and shrank into his seat a little, clearly not doubting Alya would be capable of doing just that if the need arose.

“But honestly, I’m ridiculously happy for you two.” Alya took another step back and gave Chat a once-over. Then, looking at Marinette, said, “Girl, you totally have a type. Just saying.”

Marinette let out a small nervous laugh. It was a really good thing she had told Chat about Adrien last night, otherwise this conversation already would have been a whole new level of awkward.

Suddenly Alya’s eyes lit up in realization, “Oh. My. God. When you said he likes cats…

“… OH MY FUCKING GOD THE COSTUME.”

Marinette wasn’t sure whose cheeks were a brighter red, hers or Chat’s.

Alya stood at the front of the room, her chest heaving with laughter. “You two! Ohmigod! I can’t believe this! This is _great_!”

Marinette exchanged a glance with Chat as Alya turned around to click some things on her laptop. His gaze was a mixture of relief and amusement. And that sweet, tender, loving look she had received countless times as both herself and Ladybug.

She could feel her insides melting.

“ _Ahem_ ,” Alya cleared her throat, startling them. “If you two lovebirds are done staring longingly at each other, I believe we still have some business to attend to?” She whipped out the teacher’s pointer from under the desk and slapped it against the screen, where the first slide of her presentation was pulled up. It was just a couple clip art pictures of a hummingbird and a bumblebee, and it was probably the most innocent part of the entire slideshow.

She continued, “Not gonna lie, I’m a little surprised now that I know who is on the receiving end of this lesson. You know. You being you and all,” she raised an eyebrow at the flirtatious hero clad in a skin-tight bodysuit. “But I’m going to preface this by saying this is a safe space, and if you have questions about anything whatsoever as we’re going along please ask. I won’t judge. I might laugh once in a while, but I won’t judge.

“So, where would you like me to start, Mr. Noir?”

“Oh, uh, just call me Chat. And let’s just assume I know absolutely nothing, because it’s probably true.” Chat’s cheeks were tinged pink, and Marinette could tell he was sitting uncomfortably in his seat now that they were getting to the real reason why he had come to their school.

She desperately wanted nothing more than to run up next to him and hold the lost kitten’s hand, but figured now was not a good time for her to be a distraction. Later, yes. Now, not so much.

Besides, right now he was in Alya’s hands, and she knew for a fact her best friend would make sure he was well taken care of.

“Okay then, let’s get started.”

\---

Marinette glanced at the clock in the back of the classroom. It had been roughly an hour and a half since school let out, and Alya was already over three quarters of the way done with the PowerPoint. That might very well be a new record.

Despite the bright red flush on his cheeks, Chat seemed to be handling the influx of information very well. There had been a lot of snickering when Alya came to the topic of periods and he asked what grammar had to do with any of this, but other than that he sat in silence and absorbed everything Alya threw at him.

And boy, was she throwing a lot at him.

After her initial reaction, the fact that he was one of Paris’s famous superheroes didn’t seem to faze the bespectacled teen. At least, it wasn’t affecting her while she was in teacher mode. Marinette didn’t doubt that once the business at hand was over, her best friend would practically be begging for some sort of exclusive interview with the masked cat for the Ladyblog.

Marinette tuned out Alya’s presentation (not that she hadn’t been doing that already) as she turned her attention to Chat. She studied his expression, watching it flicker between curious, embarrassed, concerned, and back to curious again in a never-ending cycle as he took in each tidbit of information. But his posture was eager, clearly desperate to fill in the gaps of his knowledge.

After all, you know what they say about cats and curiosity.

But as she sat there, the Ladybug was getting curious, too. What did she actually know about her partner and boyfriend?

She didn’t actually know how old he was. She didn’t know his real name. She didn’t know where he was from. She didn’t know what he did during the day, like if he was still in school or what kind of job he had (besides saving Paris). She didn’t know what his favorite color was. Or his favorite book. His favorite music. His favorite food.

Errr, scratch that. She was pretty sure croissants were his favorite food. He’d never verbally confirmed that, though.

And she might not know much about his family, but she did know that his mom had left and his dad, for lack of a better word, was a complete dick. And really, who needs to know more than that?

And she knew he was kind, filled with a warmth that rivaled the sun itself. Despite his flirting and puns, he was sincere. He wasn’t always the most observant (which, in her case, was good for keeping her secret identity a secret), but he had his moments when he was insanely intelligent. And she knew he was loyal. Extremely loyal. Loyal to Ladybug, and loyal to Marinette.

Probably loyal to his friends in day-to-day life, too, if he had any. Though with as much as he had been stopping by her place, she was under the impression that he didn’t have many. Or, if he did, he didn’t really talk to them much, whether it was his own choice or his father’s.

If Ladybug ever crossed paths with his dad somehow, she swore she’d kick his ass to the moon and back. Because no one deserved a dad like that, and especially not Chat.

At that moment, the sun had shifted from behind a cloud, letting light stream through the blinds in the classroom. A few of the rays bounced off of Chat, illuminating the angles of his face under the mask and bringing out the gold of his hair. His eyes squinted against the incoming light, straining to focus on the screen in front of him, but Marinette could still clearly make out the vibrant green color of his irises.

She knew something else: _he was damn attractive._ And that wasn’t even taking into consideration his long limbs, broad shoulders, and rippling muscles. He had started looking more… solid, ever since she had started feeding her mangy alley cat. Whereas before it had looked like his muscles were straining just to get from point A to point B, now they comfortably made well-defined lines you could see through his form-fitting suit.

 _And they looked even more appealing without the suit_ , Marinette recalled as she remembered the previous night, a low heat creeping through her blood. Seeing Chat without his shirt had been quite the piece of eye-candy. Honestly, that boy could probably be a model if he wanted to…

With a pause, Marinette unfocused her vision from where it had stopped low on his chest, just right above the line of the desk ( _oh boy, how’d she end up there?_ ), to mentally zoom out and take him in as a whole. The heart-stopping, muscular, blonde-haired superhero. Lit up just right by the sun.

Sitting in Adrien’s old seat.

Marinette’s brain temporarily shut down, rebooting with a million questions running through her head.

_WHAT DOES IT MEAN?_

_IS IT COINCIDENCE?_

_HOW MANY ATTRACTIVE TEENAGE BLONDE BOYS WERE ACTUALLY IN PARIS?_

_Oh wait, it’s Paris, probably a lot._

_SURELY IT’S JUST A COINCIDENCE._

_IT HAS TO BE._

_THERE’S NO WAY… COULD IT BE?_

_NO._

_NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE_

Suddenly it dawned on Marinette that there were two pairs of eyes staring at her. Three if you counted Alya’s glasses.

“Girl, are you okay? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost or something.”

Marinette tried to look at Alya, but she couldn’t tear herself away from the magnetic pull of the bright green eyes staring at her. From Adrien’s seat.

_WAIT ADRIEN DEFINITELY HAS GREEN EYES TOO. NOT GREEN CAT EYES, BUT GREEN EYES. DEFINITELY. COINCIDENCE? MAYBE? HOPEFULLY? WHAT IF IT’S NOT? WHAT IF OH NO NOPE WE’RE NOT EVEN GOING TO GO THERE –_

“Princess?”

HIS VOICE IS SO KIND AND FULL OF A BAZILLION TINY LITTLE BEAMS OF SUNLIGHT AND IT’S STARTING TO SOUND KIND OF FAMILIAR WAIT WHAT –

“Awww, you call her your princess? That’s freakin’ adorable,” Alya cooed.

“It seemed fitting, especially when I started climbing up to visit her in her tower at night,” Chat winked, standing up and stretching. Marinette was finally able to take her eyes off him long enough to look up at the front of the room, where she saw nothing but a blank screen. They must have just finished up.

_How long had she been daydreaming?_

She blinked a few times while regaining her composure, “Hey now, you only started doing that because your nose smelled food. Don’t forget that.”

“Oh, believe me, I won’t,” he replied with a smirk.

Alya stood up at the front of the room, looking like she was enjoying herself a little too much. “Welcome back to the land of the living, Marinette. We’re all done, so you can stop spacing out now.” She turned back to Chat, “So, you sure you don’t have any more questions?”

“Nope, I think I’m good! That was by far the most useful lesson I’ve ever sat through…” he trailed off, his cat ears twitching.

Marinette looked at him quizzically. That usually wasn’t a good sign. “Chat?”

“Shhhh,” he urged, hunching over slightly as he focused on the classroom door. Alya’s eyebrows were scrunched in worry, and Marinette could feel hers doing the same.

A second later, his eyes widened in shock.

_Definitely not a good sign._

“GET DOWN!” he yelled at them just as the door burst open. Marinette made sure she saw Alya hit the deck underneath the teacher’s desk before diving behind one of the front row desks herself. In the confusion Chat had scampered around the desk, too, one hand protectively on Marinette’s shoulder while stabilizing himself with the other so he could peer over the desk.

Marinette couldn’t see from where she was at, but she would safely bet all her life’s savings that there was an akuma standing in the doorway.

“Where is Chloe Bourgeois?” a deep voice thundered. “Her lies and schemes will no longer dictate how I run my school! She will come to know there is wisdom in the truth!”

“Mr. Damocles?” Marinette called out from under the desk. _Of course Chloe would get to him. She was honestly surprised this hadn’t happened sooner._

Next to her, Chat ducked down under the table and gave her an exasperated look.

_Oh. She had just given away their hiding spot. Ooops._

Moments later, their sturdy wooden cover went flying as an akumatized Mr. Damocles heaved it across the room.

Staying in a crouch, Marinette brought a cautionary hand up as she addressed him again, “Mr. Damocles? Whatever Chloe did this time, I’m sure we can find a way to work through it.”

“There are no more second chances for that girl. She is finally going to tell the truth and nothing but the truth! Or my name isn’t Right Owl!”

Now that she had a proper look at him, he did look rather… owl-like. Particularly with his swooping, brown feathered cape that draped across his back like a pair of folded wings. The akumatized mask that obscured his face even came with a hooked, beak-like nose. Mr. Damocles – err, Right Owl – was also holding a mysterious wooden staff in his hands. Definitely some sort of weapon. Now if only they could figure out where his akuma was…

She heard Chat chuckling beside her. “Right Owl? Hawkmoth’s akuma names have always been a little goofy, but this one’s a _hoot_!” She rolled her eyes at Chat, and across the room she heard Alya let out a faint groan.

Right Owl was unruffled by Chat’s joke, however, still focusing on Marinette. “Tell me the truth, child, where is Chloe Bourgeois?” He lifted his staff in her direction, one end of it glowing an ominous blue.

Then in an instant, all she could see was a black leather catsuit blocking her vision.

“DON’T TOUCH HER!” Chat cried out, shielding Marinette from the attack with his body. A strange laser beam shot out from the end of the staff, hitting Chat squarely in the back. Not unlike the many times he had taken a hit meant for Ladybug.

Damn, Chat Noir. Back at it again with getting hit by magical projectiles.

Marinette looked up at Chat’s face, his eyes turning a cloudy shade of blue. “Chat, are you alright?”

“Actually, yeah. There’s a weird bitter taste in my mouth, but other than that I feel fine. Oh. Wait, I feel a sneeze coming on…. Aaahhh…..AAHCHOOO!” Chat turned so that he sneezed on the akuma strolling up to the pair of them.

“IMBECILE! What was that for?” Right Owl growled, hoisting Chat up by the scruff of his neck so he was dangling off the floor.

Chat shrugged. “I’m allergic to feathers. And you seem to have quite a lot of them, birdbrain.”

The akuma whirled around, slamming Chat up against the nearest wall. The hero struggled to keep his wince of pain from showing on his face. _Chat needed her help. If only she could get away to transform._ Marinette scuttled behind the nearest intact desk, trying to think of a plan.

The purple outline of a butterfly glowed around the akuma’s face for a few seconds before he continued his spiel. “Chat Noir, before I take your Miraculous, you’re coming with me. We’re going to see what happens when you confess to all of Paris who you _really_ are.”

Chat’s eyes, though still a hazy blue, were wide in terror. _Great, that probably means this akuma’s power is some sort of truth spell._ And Marinette, for one, did not want to find out what the full extent of that power could do.

She watched helplessly as Right Owl dropped Chat in a heap on the floor, switching to grab him with the large talons he had for feet. Very sharp talons, from the look of it – the tip of one had caught Chat on the back of his neck, and Marinette could see the angry red scratch as the akuma carried him past her hiding spot and out the classroom window.

Before she could stop herself, she was running to the window calling after him. “CHAT!” She watched as the pair flew off in the direction of the Eiffel Tower.

“Don’t worry, Princess! I’ll be… I’ll be… I’ll…” Chat’s unfinished sentence died on the wind as he was carried farther and farther away.

_He couldn’t finish the sentence._

_He truthfully didn’t think he was going to be okay._

_Not good. Not good at all._

She turned around to find Alya standing behind her, backpack already slung around her shoulder and phone in her hand. With her free hand, she gently patted Marinette on the shoulder. “Girl, I gotta go follow this. I know Chat Noir potentially revealing his identity isn’t safe for him or Ladybug - or for you, for that matter - but if something goes down I need to be there to get the scoop.”

Giving her friend a quick squeeze and turning to run out the door, Alya added with a wink, “Besides, I’m sure Ladybug will be on the scene soon to save your boyfriend, and I’m not about to miss that.” Not a moment later, she was gone, leaving Marinette alone in the wrecked classroom.

 _Time to go save the kitten from the bird of prey_.

“Tikki, transform me!”

\---

As Ladybug swung onto the scene, she saw Right Owl precariously dangling Chat from one of the Eiffel Tower’s observation decks. All that was preventing Chat from falling was a single talon hooked through his belt. She frantically looked around the area, trying to figure out where Chat’s missing staff could be.

“Ah, Ladybug, just in time for the show!”

“Put him down!” Marinette clenched her fists at her side.

“Gladly, once I’ve taken his Miraculous,” he gave Chat a little shake, causing the hero to flail. She instinctively brought her arms up, winding up to lasso Chat with her yoyo. “Uh-uh-uh,” the akuma taunted. In one hand he still held his strange wizard-like staff, but shrugging back his wing-like cape (er, cape-like wings? He did just fly half-way across Paris, after all) he revealed Chat’s baton in his other hand. And it was positioned so that in an instant, any attempt she made to grab Chat with her yoyo would be blocked.

_Not good._

“ACHOO!” Chat sneezed, swinging back and forth in the open air. After rubbing his nose, he muttered, “Well, _owl_ be damned – ahhhh!” The akuma shook him again, clearly not pleased by the pun.

“Chat, maybe try not to make the person threatening to drop you angry, okay?” Ladybug called out.

“I’m trying, milady.”

 _Trying to make him angry, or trying not to?_ One of these days, if an akuma didn’t get to him first, she might just kill him herself. Even under the influence of a truth spell, he had a special way with words.

“Now, Chat Noir, let’s play a game of Twenty Questions. Or, in this case, just one question – who are you?”

Chat peered back at Right Owl out of the corner of his eyes. “I’m no one important.”

Marinette couldn’t help but glare at her partner. _He seriously didn’t think that was the truth, did he? Didn’t he at least realize how important he was to her?_

“Well, that’s depressing. But that’s not the answer I was looking for. So let’s try this again – what is your name?”

“Chat Noir.”

The akuma reached over and whacked Chat on the top of his head with his own staff. Rubbing his head, he glanced between his stolen baton and Ladybug, his silent message loud and clear – she needed to get Chat’s weapon back to him ASAP.

“You’re a crafty one, I’ll give you that. But the third time should be the charm – What is your name when you aren’t Chat Noir?”

Chat’s face immediately twisted with effort, his mouth clamping tightly shut to keep his true name from spilling out. He let out a low whine as the akuma gave him another shake. Ladybug watched in shock as his lips parted, mumbling something so low under his breath it was impossible to hear.

She had to hand it to him, Chat was very tenacious.

Right Owl, enraged, rattled the superhero as he drew him closer. Chat was by no means safe, but at least his new position gave him a chance to reach for a ledge if he fell.

It was now or never.

In one swift motion, Ladybug whipped her yoyo around and ripped Chat’s baton from the akuma’s grasp. Predictably, the giant owl released his hold on Chat Noir, starting his plummet to the streets below. Chat desperately kicked out and clawed, hoping to find some sort of purchase. Finding none, he shouted, “Ladybug!!”

She took a quick step to get a better angle, and sent his staff flying in his direction. “Catch!”

The staff seemed to fly through the air between them for ages.

Chat brought out an outstretched hand to intercept it.

Marinette watched in horror as his hand arrived at the spot it needed to be just a millisecond too late.

She automatically started to swing out her magic yoyo. She could still catch him. She needed to catch him.

Her stare locked onto his eyes, still tinted blue, as they became impossibly wide.

Her yoyo never made it.

Just above her line of focus, she saw it wrap around a gnarled, wooden staff.

The sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears muffled the world around her. She was aware of a loud cry, probably originating from her own mouth. She wasn’t quite sure.

She thought she heard the akuma chuckling darkly beside her.

A desperate shout filled the air, sounding so close and yet so distant at the same time.

“ _Cataclysm!_ ”

She looked on in slow motion as Chat, with a Herculean effort, collided against one of the tower’s sloping support beams. His cursed claw dragged across it as he continued to fall, leaving behind rusted metal in his wake.

It seemed to be slowing down his descent.

But not enough.

There was a far-off thud as he smashed into the ground below, rolling away from the base of the tower slightly before coming to a complete stop.

Chat didn’t get up.

He didn’t take one of his hands and rub his head or his shoulder or anything else he had definitely bruised on his way down. He didn’t utter a poorly timed pun or one of his stupid references to landing on his feet or having nine lives. Not that Marinette would be able to hear him from up here. But she could see the line of his mouth clearly enough. It wasn’t moving.

He wasn’t moving.

 _CHAT GOD DAMN IT YOU STUPID CAT GET UP_ , she screamed in her head. But no sound came out. Her entire body was in shock.

He survived falls all the time. He needed to survive this one. She needed him to survive _. She needed him._

The piercing squeal of metal-on-metal jolted Ladybug out of her petrified state. The entire tower had started leaning on its foundation, weakened by Chat’s Cataclysm.

She needed to wrap this up quick so she could fix the tower.

And fix the rest of the damage this akuma had caused.

“Lucky Charm!”

There was a burst of red light as Marinette started to feel her focus return. She looked down, a large, circular polka-dotted shield in her hands.

 _Well, that was straightforward enough_.

She sized up Right Owl, searching for the most likely place the akuma was hiding. Despite his entire feathered get-up, the principal’s tie still hung around his neck. _That had to be it_.

Ducking behind the shield, Ladybug charged straight in at the villain. His talons and truth spells bounced harmlessly off the shield as she circled around him, looping around his limbs with her yoyo. After completing a full 360 degrees, she gave a sharp tug on her line, causing all of Right Owl’s extremities to be bound tightly to his body.

With a shriek, he fell over, his magic staff clattering beside him.

Ladybug stomped over and yanked the tie from around his neck, ripping it in two. “Get out of there, you nasty bug!”

And sure enough, a shadowy butterfly flew out of the tear in the garment.

She caught the akuma, watching the purified butterfly fly free as Mr. Damocles returned to normal in front of her.

She threw her Lucky Charm high in the air, its healing light immediately bringing the Eiffel Tower back to its upright position. After giving her baffled principal an encouraging pat on the shoulder, she hooked her yoyo onto a rail so that she could lower herself to the ground below.

_Please let him be okay please let him be okay please let him be okay…_

As she landed there was already a small crowd forming at the base of the tower, a line of police standing to keep anyone from getting too close to the battle that had just finished.

One of the officers came over to her, handing her Chat’s dropped baton. Seeing the worry on her face, he pointed behind her. “He’s over there, Miss Ladybug.”

With a nod, she turned around and started running, sprinting to where her partner lied on the ground.

He still hadn’t moved.

 _No no no no no no no no no_ …

She collapsed to her knees at his side, gently cradling his head in her arms. The scratch on his neck from earlier had vanished. But he still hadn’t moved.

_No no no no no no no no no no no no…_

She fought back tears as she sat there on the ground, trying to steady her breathing.

_This couldn’t be happening. Her power was supposed to fix everything._

The sound was so soft, she almost missed it.

A quiet, labored intake of breath.

Coming from the boy lying in her arms.

Marinette felt like she was about to pass out from relief, watching as his chest slowly rose up and down, becoming steadier the more breaths he took. She took one of her gloved hands and brought it along his neck, checking his pulse. Still there. Not as strong as usual, but not going away anytime soon.

_Thank god._

She shuddered as a sharp breath of relief racked her body, a tear had escaped from behind her mask. It ran down her face and dripped onto Chat’s forehead. His face started twitching and coming to life, although he kept his eyes closed.

“Chat, ohmigod, don’t you dare scare me like that again!” she sobbed, caressing him behind his cat ears.

Both of their Miraculouses gave off a warning beep.

“Sorry about that,” he replied with a tired voice, a smile curving onto his face as his eyes remained shut. “I guess I forgot to land on my feet this time.”

She groaned, trying in vain to stem the flow of tears leaking from her eyes. Yep, he was going to be just fine. He might have some serious bruises later, maybe a fracture or two, but he would be fine.

But right now they needed to get out of here, before they transformed back in public. She was torn, trying to decide if she should safely set him on a rooftop somewhere or take him back to her place to properly check on his injuries. And risk seeing his civilian identity.

As she scooped him up bridal-style, not wanting to jostle him too much in case something actually was broken, their Miraculouses beeped again. Considering their height difference, the pair of them probably looked really comical right now. Hopefully Alya would be able to get a good shot for her blog. 

Chat’s head rested against her shoulder. Still out of it, he murmured, “I think I’m just going to take a quick catnap…”

She responded with a giggle, “Okay, kitty.” She started walking, gradually picking up speed until she was at a full run, letting her feet take them away from the tower and through the streets of Paris.

Chat breathed deeply, inhaling her scent. Before completely becoming unconscious, he whispered a single word.

“ _Marinette_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Achievement unlocked: Lame Akuma Name
> 
> We're almost done with this little adventure, folks! Hopefully I'll have the last chapter done within a week-ish. And then it'll be on to a few different writing projects at the same time (all of them ML related, we'll see how well I juggle them), including [akumasona/miracusona week](http://akumasonas.tumblr.com/) and an AU I thought of the other day that I'm itching to write.


	7. Purring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where we wrap this little Marichat adventure up (for now). ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I should have been in bed like a couple hours ago. But I couldn't get these dorks out of my head and needed to finish this. Enjoy ;)
> 
> Based on the last prompt from the [first biannual Marichat week](https://marichatweek.tumblr.com/prompts).
> 
> UPDATE: Once you have read this chapter, there is now a fluffy, super-duper sinful alternate ending to this chapter. You can find it [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6504574).

Marinette knelt on her bedroom floor, lost in thought as she watched her partner peacefully sleeping on her bed.

_Did he know? Had he figured it out? Or had he just been confused and tired?_

She had been sitting there for a couple hours now, her mind dwelling on the last word Chat had uttered before passing out in Ladybug’s arms – her name.

Not Ladybug.

_Marinette_.

And she couldn’t figure out if she had finally done something to give herself away, or if Chat just automatically associated the feeling of being safe with Marinette. She was really hoping it was option two. Option one would probably make her explode.

But there would be no sure way to know for sure until the snoozing kitten woke up.

After bringing him back to her room (climbing the fire escape while trying not to drop him had really been a test of her strength, even while she was still suited up), Plagg had come flying out of his ring moments after she dropped down inside the trapdoor. Tikki had followed quickly afterwards, both kwamis pausing to look at her and her unconscious partner before zipping off to scrounge for food.

“You know,” Plagg had said, “it would make things a lot easier if you just told him. And if you took off that stupid mask he keeps wearing lately,” he gestured to the costume mask Chat still wore on his face. As tacky as it looked compared to his usual mask, his forethought to put it on under his suit was, in her opinion, a stroke of pure genius.

“Maybe,” she had responded, “but I don’t think either of us is actually ready for that yet.”

“Okay, but when the time comes, I’m gonna rub it in both your faces that I told you so!”

Tikki had then proceeded to practically kick the little black kwami’s butt all the way to the kitchen.

Marinette had quickly gotten to work, carefully stripping Chat of his t-shirt to get a better look at the damage underneath. He didn’t look too bad, considering he had fallen well over 100 meters, but she suspected his superhero suit had something to do with his survival. And her Lucky Charm.

The worst of the bruising was concentrated around his shoulders and ribcage, apparently the areas that had ended up absorbing most of the shock from the impact. A particularly dark green bruise was blooming at the base of his ribs on his right side, so Tikki had coaxed Plagg into helping her retrieve a bag of frozen peas from the kitchen to help reduce the swelling.

It would be hard to tell if anything had been fractured or broken until he was awake and/or got proper x-rays. But he didn’t seem to be in any pain right now, save for whenever she poked at a bruise and a grimace ghosted over his sleeping features. She hoped that was a good sign.

He actually looked quite peaceful while he was sleeping. And not just that – it was as if all the troubles and stress he carried around day-to-day simply melted away, leaving behind the most innocent expression she had probably ever seen Chat make. Despite still being covered by a mask.

Waiting for him to wake up of his own accord, but not wanting to leave him, Marinette had settled on her knees at her bedside. Without even thinking, she had tenderly wrapped her fingers around his right hand, rhythmically rubbing small circles into his skin with her thumbs.

When she listened carefully, she swore she could hear a low purr rumbling in the sleeping kitten’s chest.

The fact that he acted like a cat even when untransformed was, in short, downright adorable.

Though it wasn’t enough to distract Marinette’s wandering mind from her thoughts.

_Plagg made it seem like he doesn’t know yet, so maybe it is just coincidence. Or he really_ has _figured it out and just hasn’t told Plagg yet. Because it’s not like she’s told Tikki absolutely everything about her life. And Plagg doesn’t exactly seem like the type of kwami you sit down and have heart-to-heart conversations with. Though you would think, with something as big as Ladybug’s identity, he would have at least told his kwami that much. Or what if he_ did _know, and Plagg was just trolling her? Oh no, what if Plagg had actually told him about her identity a while ago and the_ both _of them had been trolling her this whole time –_

She felt Chat stirring underneath her touch, his face contorting in a giant yawn. A really cute yawn. Marinette motioned at Tikki, who was still hovering at the foot of the bed, to hide. Because whether or not he knew, seeing a floating red kwami with black spots would definitely be a dead giveaway.

“Hey there, Sleeping Beauty,” she cooed, trying to suppress the bundle of nerves that had set in her stomach.

His eyes slowly fluttered open, back to their usual vibrant green. She had to take a moment to register they were his human eyes, though, as opposed to his cat eyes. But it didn’t change the fact that they were beautiful and full of life, no matter what form they came in.

The purest of smiles crossed his lips as he looked over at her. “So, does that make you my Princess Charming?”

Marinette giggled in response, still continuing to rub circles into the back of his hand. Now that he was awake, there was most definitely a purring sound coming from his chest cavity.

Chat seemed to notice that, too, “Well now, I didn’t know I could do that.”

“You’ve been doing that for over an hour now,” she teased, both of their voices still low. Not that it was particularly late in the day, it was barely past dinner time. (She had texted her mom earlier saying she wasn’t feeling well and was going to go to bed early, so at least she was covered on that front. Hopefully.)

There was just something so peaceful and enchanting about this moment that neither of them wanted to interrupt the mood.

“Over an hour? How long have I been out?”

“Mmmmm, about two, three hours.”

“Wow, I must have been really tired.”

“Or, I dunno, you fell off the Eiffel Tower.” She playfully kissed the tip of his nose.

“Oh yeah. That. That was rough.” His brows furrowed as he continued, “You weren’t there, were you? It was bad enough that you almost got attacked by that akuma, and I don’t know what I would have done if – “

“Shhhhhh,” she gently hissed at him, planting a quick kiss on his lips to stop his train of thought. The nerves in her stomach unbundled as relief swept them away, her concern about him figuring out her identity clearing up. “Don’t worry, _chaton_ , I came straight back here to keep an eye on the news after the giant owl took you away. Ladybug told me everything when she dropped you off here.”

She could see his face relax when she told him that. Then screw up again in confusion. “Wait, how’d she know to bring me here? I haven’t told her about us yet.”

“She said you whispered my name as you were passing out. Don’t you remember?”

“What? I…Oh. Ohhhh, now I remember. She smelled kind of like you, so I guess I got confused. Which worked out well, I guess, because otherwise I’d probably be lying on some random rooftop right now.”

“Indeed.” Marinette caressed the side of his cheek with a finger, feeling slightly guilty for deceiving him. Maybe it _would_ be easier if she just told him.

But she still didn’t feel like she was ready for that to happen just yet. Maybe someday. Just not today.

She looked down at him as he drew in a deep breath, his purring coming to an abrupt halt as he winced and groaned.

“Owww, that kind of hurts.”

“Kind of? You have a giant bruise on your ribcage. And lots of them all over your body in general. And this time, none of them are from me,” she added with a wink, hoping to get a smile out of him.

It worked. His lips curled in a sly grin. “Oh, I know they weren’t from you, princess. When you give me bruises it’s a lot more fun.” She felt a ball of heat start burning in her core. _Why did such a simple phrase turn her on so much?_

“Well,” he continued, “I guess it’s time to take a look at the damage.” He made a motion to sit up, but Marinette held out a hand to stop him.

“Hold up, kitty. You might have broken or fractured something.”

“I’ll be extra careful, then. Sooner or later I’ll have to sit up anyways.”

“Just take a second to do some inventory first, okay?” At this, he gave her a somewhat exacerbated look. “Please?” she pleaded.

“Fine. But I’m reserving the right to say I told you so if there’s nothing wrong.”

_Like kwami, like chosen._ They were more suited for each other than she thought.

Chat started cautiously wriggling his limbs, checking them for signs of injury first. He shot her a smug look after determining his fingers, toes, arms, and legs all worked perfectly fine. Then he shifted slightly, looking down at his bare torso. Before examining individual bruises, he slipped her a knowing glance from the corner of his eye, raising his eyebrows slightly.

Marinette felt her cheeks burn as she started to stammer, “I-I, uh… I had to take, uh, off your shirt… to… you know, make sure you weren’t bleeding, or – “

The mischievous twinkle in his eyes stopped her mid-sentence. “Oh _peas_ , it’s not that bad.”

Marinette groaned and smacked her forehead. She had forgotten about the peas. Hopefully her mom hadn’t had plans for those, because they had definitely thawed out by now.

Chat started softly chuckling, wincing every time he took too deep of a breath, as Marinette picked up the no-longer-frozen bag of peas and tossed them onto her desk down below. There was a loud crash when they collided with a container of pencils, scattering writing utensils everywhere. One of them had pierced the bag, causing a barrage of little green vegetables to roll out through the tear and onto her floor. She cringed and peered down at the mess, all while Chat’s laughter escalated. His shoulders shook as he tried to restrict his movement, and Marinette worried he might actually shake apart.

“Chat – “

“Hey, don’t worry,” he said in between breaths. “They say laughter is the best medicine, right?”

“Not when you’ve got _that_ on your ribs.” She pointed to the ugly green blob on his side. Luckily the swelling had gone down some, but it still didn’t look like just a normal bruise.

Sensing her concern, Chat calmed down his laughter and brought up a hand to examine his side. He drew in a short, sharp breath as he started probing it with his fingers. “Meowch, this one’s a piece of work.”

“I told you so.”

“Hey now, wait a minute, I’m not done yet!” he jokingly scowled at her. He laid back completely flat, taking as deep of breaths as he could manage while pressing against a few select spots along his ribcage. “Good news is, I can’t feel anything shifting, so it shouldn’t be broken.

“Bad news, it hurts like hell, so I think I might have fractured a rib or two.” He looked over at her and raised his eyebrows. “Now you can say it.”

“I told you so.” This time she stuck out his tongue at him. She quickly switched back into nursing mode. “Do I need to take you to a hospital to get it checked out?”

“It’ll be kind of suspicious if I check into a hospital with a mask on. And tell them my name is Chat Noir. Only to have them match up my medical records to my civilian persona. So no thanks, I’d kind of like to avoid that.”

“But Chat, if it’s fractured – “

“They’ll probably just tell me to not do anything stupid until it heals. There’s not exactly much you can do for a fracture.”

“But Chat – “

“Marinette. If I need to, I promise I’ll go tomorrow. Once my dad sees it, he’ll probably insist on taking me anyway.” Chat let out a deep sigh, covering his face with his right forearm. “Shit,” he hissed, “I’ve been gone a lot longer today than I was supposed to be. My dad’s gonna kill me. Especially when he finds out about the bruises.”

Marinette crawled up onto her bed and snuggled up next to his side, careful to avoid the bruises blooming all over his skin. Smoothing her fingers across his chest, she hesitantly asked, “What if… what if you don’t go back?”

_Had she really just asked that?_

Chat seemed to be wondering the same thing as he peeked out at her from under his arm.

“I can’t just not go home, Mari. My dad will file a missing persons report on me. That’s not exactly something I can hide from forever.”

“But Chat… you shouldn’t be afraid to go back to your own home! It’s not right. You could just stay here, I’m sure my parents would be cool with it. You know, after getting over the whole ‘I’ve been secretly dating a masked superhero’ thing. And then you wouldn’t have to deal with your dad, and we’d actually make sure you were fed properly, and – “

“And that sounds great and all, but at some point you’d end up finding out who I really am under this mask, and it would make things really complicated for you and your family. Especially if my dad found out you were sheltering me. I can’t let that happen to you.”

“But Chat – “

“Marinette.” He moved his arm behind his head so he could look her in the eye. “If I could, I would. I would drop this mask in a heartbeat, and the two of us could just skip along through life together and live happily ever after, never looking back. But we can’t. I can’t.”

“And why not?”

“My father would find me. He’d find _us_. He’d figure out some way to make life a living hell for you just to keep me in line. I can’t drag you into that.”

“I’m not afraid, I can stand up for myself!”

“I know you can. But if you knew who he was, you’d understand why I need to protect you from him. For your own good.”

“Then _dammit_ , Chat, just _tell me who he is_!”

Silence hung in the air between them. Marinette instantly regretted raising her voice at Chat. It’s not like any of this was his fault, and the last thing he needed right now was his girlfriend yelling at him.

“Chat… I’m so sorry…”

He hesitantly reached out to stroke her face. “It’s alright, I understand. You’re fiercely passionate and protective, which is what I love about you. I’ve always loved that about you. Just sometimes you take it a little too far.”

_How was it that he was always so gentle towards her, even after yelling at him?_

They lay there together for a while without talking, Marinette resting her head on an unbruised section of his chest while he ran his fingers through her hair, undoing the ties that held it in place.

“Marinette?” From the position she was in, his voice sounded even deeper than usual. It was very soothing.

“Yeah?”

With a strained effort, he paused to shift the pillows underneath him so that he was half sitting up, half lying down. As he did so, Marinette sat up and scooted so that her back was up against her headboard, right next to his head.

“Yes, _chaton_?” she repeated.

His voice was low. “Do you really want to know?”

“Huh?”

“If it’s really that important to you, I’ll tell you. Who I am. Without the mask.”

“Chat, you don’t need to do that.”

“I know… but… I think I want to,” she could see tears glistening in his eyes as he continued, “It’s just… and I mean, I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, but… maybe it would be a whole lot easier if you knew.”

“Just because something is easy doesn’t always mean it’s the right path to take.”

“Thank you, Fortune Cookie Marinette,” he teased, smiling weakly up at her. “I’m serious, though… a lot of things would be _so_ much easier if you knew. But it’s selfish for me to want that, because then I’d inadvertently be dragging you into this mess with my father.”

“Then go ahead and drag me in. I could help you fight back. All I gotta know is where to start throwing my punches,” she jokingly brought her fists up in a fighting stance, jabbing the air in front of her.

Chat softly chuckled as he reached up and pulled her hands down. “Remind me to never step into a boxing ring against you.

“But Marinette, you have to understand… he’s someone that you look up to, and I don’t want to ruin that for you. As I said, it’s completely selfish of me to want to tell you.”

She took one of her hands and started running it through his mane. “Chat, if he’s truly as bad as you say he is, he’s not the kind of person I want to be idolizing. And I’d prefer to know that sooner rather than later.”

_And, if Chat really, truly wanted to do this right now, who was she to stop him?_ The poor cat literally got tossed off the Eiffel Tower earlier because he was protecting her, and he was obviously extremely stressed out at the thought of having to return home to his dad all battered and bruised. If revealing his identity could somehow help him through this mess, she didn’t want to deny him that.

Besides, his kwami had said himself it would be easier if they knew. And they were supposed to trust their little miniature gods, right?

She would just have to suck it up and confess to the boy behind the mask that she also happened to be the superhero he had been pining after for over three years. But she loved him now, though, so it would all be good. Right? Right. Sure.

Because if he was going to go through with this, he deserved to know the truth about her as well.

Marinette took a deep breath to steady her nerves.

_Apparently today was going to be the day after all._

“Hey, princess, if you’re not up for this – “

“No! No, I… I’m good. I’ll be good. I’m just working on processing this whole situation, is all. I’m nervous as hell, but…” she looked deep into his bright green eyes, still damp with the threat of tears, “It’s clear to me that you need this right now. And I’m not about to deny that from you.

“And dammit, maybe it’s about time we took the easy path for once.”

A kind smile lit up Chat’s face, a couple drops of moisture rolling over the side of the costume mask. “Really?”

“Really.” She cupped his cheek in her hand.

“Absolutely sure?”

“Not _absolutely_ sure. But sure enough. I think.”

“Marinette – “

“Chat. Just do it. Before both of us get cold feet.”

Taking a steadying breath, Chat craned his neck, looking for his kwami. “Plagg?” The little black cat peered at them from behind one of her shelves. “Could you – “

“Grab a picture of the Worst Father of the Century? Yep, I’m on it,” Plagg finished, clearly satisfied this was finally happening as he flew off to rummage around in Marinette’s desk.

_There’s a picture of Chat’s dad in my room? I guess he really wasn’t kidding when he said I look up to him…_

She felt a wave of nervousness flare through her system, not sure what to expect.

Within moments, the black kwami floated back up to their level, a folded piece of paper in his hands. He dropped it in Marinette’s lap before zipping back off to the shelf, no doubt watching the show with Tikki.

She picked up the piece of paper, hands trembling.

_This was it._

Once she unfolded this, there was no going back.

She would know Chat’s identity. His _real_ identity.

And, from the sound of it, his civilian identity was probably someone she knew if there was a picture of his dad just casually hanging out in her desk somewhere.

Her snarky, playful, caring partner might be someone completely different under that mask.

Her opinion of him would change forever.

She’d never look at Chat the same way again. She’d never look at his real identity the same again.

Who knows? Maybe everything would turn out alright. Maybe it _would_ be easier.

But maybe things would get awkward. It could affect the way she and Chat worked as a team. Which could spell disaster for the future of Paris.

She couldn’t let that happen.

Their civilian lives needed to stay separate from their superhero lives. Even if the boy behind the mask was someone she got along with, entangling all aspects of their lives with one another would just make it all the more difficult to keep their identities a secret from the rest of the public. And from Hawkmoth. Which spelled disaster for the future of the world.

And although the fact that she was dating Chat made things complicated (each time they became more intimate it became all the more difficult to keep her alter-ego a secret), at least it was _her_ he had fallen for and not just another random girl on the streets of Paris. Because if it were anyone else, he’d be putting himself in real danger right now.

His sense of self-preservation had always been low, but today that instinct seemed to be non-existent.

She needed to fix that.

Steeling herself, she dropped the folded piece of paper into her wastebasket.

_No one must know. Not even us._

She turned to him, his eyes wide in shock. “Chat, listen to me – “

“But I thought –“

“Shhhh,” she gently pressed a finger to his lips. He looked like he was about to cry again. _Crap._ “Chat, this isn’t a good idea. I can’t know who you are. It could put you in danger.”

“But – “

“Chat. What if there comes a time when we decide to break up? What if it’s an ugly break up? I might blab your identity all across Paris purely out of spite.”

“You would never do that.”

“But what if I did? You never know, it’s not like we can see into the future. You’ve said it yourself, I can get pretty intense when I’m upset.”

“But…” his lips were quivering as he tried to maintain what little composure he had left, his voice barely above a whisper. “I trust you. You wouldn’t do that to me. I just know it.”

“Chat, you can’t just give away your secret to any girl you happen to be dating. What if that girl becomes akumatized? What if Hawkmoth finds out? You’d be in serious danger. And so would the rest of Paris.”

He drew in a shaky breath, sniffling, “I… I know, b-but… you’re not just a-any girl, Marinette _… dammit, I love you_.”

“Yeah, that’s what you’ve said about Ladybug, too.”

 

She was immediately ashamed of what she had just done. Because her words fucking _broke_ him.

Chat squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw, his chest rapidly rising and falling and wracked with spasms as he sobbed silently at her side.

_Fuck._

The practically indestructible superhero had survived a fall off the fucking Eiffel Tower today, only to be shattered to pieces by his girlfriend hours later. The same girlfriend who had failed to catch him in the first place as he was plummeting through the air. The same girlfriend now sitting next to him as he wept because she just _had_ to make a snappy remark that she _knew_ would hurt him. And yet she said it anyway.

_Today was not her lucky day._

Unsure what to do, she hesitantly reached out and stroked the back of his head. He didn’t try to move away from her touch, but that very well could have been because of his injuries. After a couple minutes, his breathing began to slow back down, still trembling as the emotional pain refused to dissipate.

“Chat,” she murmured, daring to caress his cheek with her other hand, “I’m so sorry. I should _never_ have said that. It was wrong, and it was cruel, and I’m so, so sorry.”

He opened his mouth to try and speak, but the words got choked up in his throat. Instead, he tilted his head to lean into her touch. At least that was a good sign.

She tried to wipe away his tears with her thumb, but every time she smeared one away another would take its place. “This is all my fault, _chaton_. I shouldn’t have pushed you to begin with. Knowing who your dad is isn’t important. Knowing who _you_ are isn’t important.”

She felt him shudder against her. _Fuck, Marinette, use your words. The right ones this time._

“Wait, I didn’t mean it like that! I, ugh –“ She took a breath and restarted. “Chat, _you’re_ important to me. Just the way you are. Because that’s the person I’ve fallen in love with. And though I don’t doubt that I’d love whoever you are without the mask, your safety is important to me, too, and if something were to happen to you because I knew your identity…” she trailed off.

His eyes slowly opened, shining with unshed tears. “Yeah… yeah, y-you’re right. It’s just… sometimes the whole double life thing is great, but sometimes it really sucks.”

_She understood that all too well._

Marinette brushed her lips against his forehead in response, not trusting herself to speak without giving anything away.

“Marinette?”

She studied his face, searching for something – anything - that told her he was angry at her. Upset. Furious. Or even the slightest bit disappointed. But she found only sadness, laced with an aching loneliness that gripped at her very soul. “Yes, _chaton_?”

“Can… can I take you up on that offer of staying here tonight?” He looked up at her like a lost, hopeful kitten, his voice rough from crying.

“Of course,” she breathed, lifting his head to cradle him to her chest, working hard to hold back tears herself. Trying not to completely smother him, she ran her fingers through his scalp and inhaled his sweet musky scent. “But, what about your dad?”

“He’s already going to be mad no matter what. This way, maybe I can at least enjoy myself a little while I think up a cover story.”

“Aren’t you worried he’ll come searching for you?”

Chat exhaled slowly, somehow sounding mildly amused. “I mean, he’s probably already searching. But he won’t throw a public fit about it until at least 24 hours has passed – this isn’t exactly the first time I’ve acted out against him.”

She sat silent for a bit, continuing to stroke his hair as she wondered what the extent of his rebelliousness was. “Hey, Chat?”

“Mmmhmmm?” he purred against her chest, clearly enjoying the motion of her fingers against his head. He looked like he was about to fall asleep in her arms again.

“How old are you?”

“Hmm?”

“How old are you? You’ve never actually told me.”

“Oh. Eighteen.”

She gently pulled him away from where he had nestled between her breasts (no wonder he was so content). “Chat, you do realize that means you don’t have to live with your dad, right? You’re officially an adult.”

“I’m well aware of that. And believe me, the thought has crossed my mind. A lot.”

“Then why not do it?”

He inhaled, deeply sighing. “As crappy as living under my father’s thumb can get, I just can’t leave him. He busies himself with work and stuff all the time, and he fools himself into thinking it’s more important than life itself, but really I’m all he’s got left. You know, ever since my mom vanished. And if I were to leave him, too… I’d be afraid of what would happen to him. Or what he would do to others.”

Hearing him say that made her heart ache. He was too good for this world. Too pure.

It made her feel even worse for hurting him earlier.

“Oh, Chat…” She laid his head back down on the pillows, planting soft kisses on his forehead. Then his nose. Then his tear-stained cheeks. “If you ever need a place to get away,” she started between kisses, “you’re always welcome here. Anytime. Even if I’m away at school or something.” She felt the muscles of his face pull into a smile under her lips.

“Really?”

“Really.” She shifted her attention to his lips, tasting salt as she kneaded against them. She readjusted herself so that she was straddling him, putting herself in a better position to thoroughly kiss him.

Their teeth clicked together as she pressed harder against his mouth, wanting nothing more than to suck and lick away all his pain. Because he didn’t deserve all the shit that life put him through. Including all the shit _she_ seemed to end up putting him through. He deserved better.

She nipped at his lower lip, a jolt of electricity lighting her up as he started groaning underneath her in response. Spurred on by his reaction, she let her tongue slip between his lips and dance along the inside of his mouth. He felt so warm, and suddenly all she wanted to do was melt into him. Utterly and completely melt. Like butter onto a cinnamon roll fresh from the oven.

Marinette unlocked their lips, sitting up as Chat lay breathing heavily against the mattress. Every time his chest rose, a wince crossed his features. “Chat?”

“My ribs. I think you’re sitting on them.”

_Crap._ _Couldn’t she go without hurting him for, like, ten minutes?_

She scooted down his torso to move her weight off his ribcage.

Then, with a sly smile, she repositioned her weight on top of his crotch. _Wow, he was already hard._

“Is that better, _chaton?_ ”

Eyes wide, all he managed to do in response was nod enthusiastically.

“Tell you what, kitty, you just lay there and start thinking about what excuse you’re going to use tomorrow, and I’ll help you _enjoy_ yourself.” She watched as his pupils tried to shrink into his skull.

He gave a weak cough before replying, “I don’t know, princess, I’m not the best at multitasking.”

“Oh, then I guess I’ll just have to distract you later…” she made as if to sit up off of him.

In one fluid motion, surprisingly swift for someone who had potentially multiple fractured ribs, Chat reached out to her and looped his fingers under the hem of her shirt, yanking it over her head and shoulders before she had time to react. It was actually pretty impressive.

“Or you could go ahead and distract me now,” he grinned, tossing her shirt in a crumpled heap onto the floor.

“Okay then, which would you prefer: stand-up comedy or _impressions_?” She wriggled her hips against him.

“IMPRESSIONS! –ah, er… yeah. Impressions. Please?”

She looked at him mischievously, leaning closer to his face while being careful to avoid his sea of bruises. Once she was nearly eye-to-eye with him, she crooned in the sultriest voice she could muster, “Then tell me who this reminds you of…”

She could practically hear Chat’s heartbeat trying to burst free from his chest. She had him right where she wanted him. She shifted slightly so she could whisper in his ear.

“Help, _Eiffel_ and I can’t get up.”

It took all of her self-control to keep from breaking out into a fit of giggles. Marinette sat up so she could take in his reaction. A pair of frustrated green eyes were scowling up at her. “Really, princess?”

“What, too soon?”

“No, just disappointed that I didn’t get to that punderful joke first. And it wasn’t exactly the type of impression I was hoping for,” he added with a wink.

“From the look on your face, I thought I made a pretty good impression on you.”

“Again, wrong kind of impression.”

“I’m getting the impression that you’re not very impressed.”

“Oh god, Mari, stop!” He pulled her down to him, disregarding his bruises, determined to get her to shut up and kiss him. She allowed herself to be dragged down, but she smoothly dodged the kiss. She wasn’t quite done playing with him yet.

“What, kitty, you don’t like the taste of your own medicine?”

“It’s interfering with me tasting you, so no, I don’t like it,” he pouted.

“You’re not missing out on much, apparently my _taste_ in boyfriends is deplorable.”

“You wound me.”

“Do you need me to kiss it and make it better?”

“Actually, I do.”

She peppered light kisses along his jawline. “How’s that?”

“Mmmmm, still hurts. I think I need more.”

“Just tell me where it hurts, and I’ll work my magic.”

He tapped one of the bruises on his shoulder. Marinette felt a shudder run through him as her lips caressed the black and blue mark.

“Anywhere else, _chaton_?”

“My heart could use a little magic, too. That last pun of yours was pawticularly tasteless.”

“Look who’s talking,” she murmured against his chest. Her nose filled with his scent as she pressed tender kisses against his skin. He made a content humming sound when she started applying a little suction. “There, feeling better? Did my magic work?”

He delicately took her chin in one of his hands, tilting her face towards his. “Like a charm.”

Normally Marinette would have freaked out at the too-close-for-comfort Ladybug reference. But she was too preoccupied to pay attention.

Preoccupied with the soft, warm pair of lips enveloping hers.

Distracted by the heat pooling inside of her as the plane of their bodies, so perfectly matched to each other, fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

And vaguely aware of the pile of clothes next to her bed that steadily grew every minute.

\---

Sunlight streamed through the windows of Marinette’s room, bathing everything in the golden light of dawn. There were a couple hours left until Marinette’s alarm would go off for school. Tikki, still perched on the shelf she had hid behind all night, gazed fondly at the soundly snoozing tangle of flesh and limbs on the bed.

At some point during the heroes’, uh, _late night_ _activities_ they had managed to kick most of the blankets off her bed, joining the heap of discarded clothes on the floor. Not that they needed the blankets - Adrien, still wearing the mask, was protectively curled around Mari just like a real cat despite his lingering bruises from yesterday’s fall. Both teens had rosy blushes blooming across their cheeks, their figures rising and falling together as they breathed in sync.

Tikki sighed wistfully. _They really are made for each other._

Her counterpart, waking up from his slumber, toddled over to join her. “Why do you keep looking at them?” Plagg yawned, “They’re so boring. And naked.”

“They’re cute! And just look at their little smiles as they’re holding each other! It’s romantic.”

“They’re idiots. They were literally _this close_ to finally ending all the stupidness, and your Ladybug had to go and ruin it all,” the black kwami whined.

“I know. You have to admit, though, she made some pretty good points.”

“If by ‘pretty good’ you mean ‘pretty stupid because she’s Ladybug so it doesn’t matter if she knows his identity’, then sure. Maybe. But did you see Adrien’s face afterwards? It was like she stabbed him with a pointy stick.”

“Yeah, I saw his face, right before I had to pin you down to keep you from getting involved,” Tikki scolded.

“I was just trying to protect the dork, he already gets enough crap from his dumbass dad.”

“Language.”

“Dumb. Ass. Dick. Dad.”

The kwamis halted their bickering as Adrien shifted in his sleep, somehow pressing even closer to Marinette and nuzzling up against her. A low rumbling started in his chest.

Plagg continued their argument at a lower volume. “I’m just so tired of waiting! It’s been _years_ now, and they’re stupid and oblivious and they love each other and it would be so much easier if they just figured it out already.”

“Trust me, you’re not the only one. But this is the one thing we’re not supposed to interfere with. They have to figure it out themselves.”

“But that’ll take _forever_. They literally just had sex and they still don’t have a fucking clue.”

“Language,” the little red kwami folded her arms and glared. “And I really hope that wasn’t a vulgar attempt at a pun.”

Plagg smirked in response.

Tikki sighed, “Don’t worry, they’ll figure it out someday… 

“… _they always do_.”

With that the kwamis sat in silence, letting the sound of Adrien’s purring fill the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _**OHHHH, WERE YOU EXPECTING THIS CHAPTER TO HAVE A REVEAL?**_ *cackles*
> 
> okay, but real talk- I wanted to wrap this up nicely but also still leave it open-ended because:  
> a) from the start I wanted this to primarily be an exploration of how Mari and Chat interact with each other once they deemed their respective crushes to be completely unattainable, and as much as I LOVE their dynamic I don't foresee that particular pairing being 100% truly satisfied because feelings and doubts and insecurities and guilt and oh did I mention feelings?  
> 2) when the second biannual Marichat week rolls around, this gives me the potential to springboard off this story for the next set of prompts
> 
> **UPDATE: for those of you who really want to read a reveal, I have[posted the alternate ending to this chapter](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6504574). It's fluffy. It's Sinful. Oh god it's so sinful. I'm not a huge fan of it, hence why it's an alternate and I've made it separate from the progression of this story, but if you can't get no satisfaction you might wanna go check it out.**  
>  \---
> 
> Thank you soooo much for reading this!! I really wasn't sure how this was going to turn out and I'm so glad people actually like it :) Next I'll be working on putting together material for the _akumasona/miracusona week_ coming up (in less than two weeks, so I'd better get cracking), and probably by this weekend [I'll drop the first chapter of my ML AU](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6500158/chapters/14879647) because I already started on that too so stay tuned for that ;)
> 
> In the meantime, if you wanna _chat_ with me (yes, pun fully intended) or see what I'm up to, you can find me at:  
>  **earthboundpenguin.tumblr.com** (my primary blog that is like 70% miraculous ladybug and 30% other randomness), or  
>  **earthboundjedi.tumblr.com** (the blog I tend to post the most on because Star Wars)


	8. Good Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Chat is a frisky kitten. And the one where y'all get an update a whole lot sooner than I thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ummm... surprise?
> 
> I had a couple hours to kill this morning while I was waiting for my car window to get fixed, so I decided to do a little writing. And instead of working on the other two things I'm in the middle of, my brain was like 'yo, here's an idea for Marichat, write it now.' And then when I got home from work my brain was like 'yo, finish it. finish it now.'
> 
> So here ya go - enjoy ;)

Marinette woke up to a gentle purring sound in her ear, keeping her eyes closed against the morning sunlight streaming into her room.

_Odd, I didn't know Tikki could purr..._

She reached out with a hand, groping for her phone on her bedside table. As she shifted, the warmth she felt surrounding her moved with her. Strong fingers pressed against her waist and a soft cheek nuzzled against her shoulder.

_Oh. Right._

Marinette opened an eyelid, peering at her partner. During the night he had wrapped himself around her just like an oversized cat, the heat from his body completely eliminating the need for any blankets. Which worked out well, since it looked like they had kicked the blankets off of her bed to join their pile of clothes on the floor.

She felt a blush rising to her cheeks as she remembered the events of last night. After Alya's lesson had given Chat a better familiarity with the, er, subject, as well as a much needed confidence boost, it turned out that he could be quite the animal in bed.

_Pun intended._

Marinette giggled internally at her train of thought.

Not that their escapades had been flawless last night like all those unrealistic scenes you see in movies. There had been quite a lot of fumbling around and messiness and general awkwardness. And lots of puns and lame jokes. _Really_ lame jokes. Including a string of them that occurred while Chat had issues getting a condom on for the first time. A few of his more memorable lines included: "Apparently I lack condom sense," "I think this thing is condomming me," and "cond-ON!"

Yeah, really lame puns.

It had been perfect.

She managed to reach her phone and unlock it, checking the time. She still had a couple hours before her alarm went off for school.

_Wow, I never wake up before my alarm._

_But then again, I've never woken up next to another person before, either._

She took mental note of the twenty-three notifications she had, all of them from Alya. Her best friend was probably just worried about what had happened to her during the akuma attack. And if Chat was alright. Because the last thing the various media reporters and bloggers had seen was Ladybug carrying an unconscious Chat away from the scene.

 _I'll call her back in a few minutes_ , she thought as she focused on the soft skin gently shifting against her own with every breath.

Tossing her phone to the side, she snuggled deeper into Chat's embrace. His purring intensified and she felt him start stretching some of his muscles as he stirred from his slumber.

"I'm sorry, _chaton_ , did I wake you up?" she murmured.

"Not at all, princess, I still feel like I'm in a dream."

She felt a pair of hot, wet lips press against her cheek, causing a stupid grin to creep across her face. At that moment Marinette wanted nothing more than to lay there forever, securely entangled in Chat's embrace. It just felt so right.

Although she had never imagined having this sort of moment with Chat. In all of her fantasies, it had always been a different blonde boy at her side.

A small pang of guilt hit her stomach.

It's not like she and Adrien had ever been an item. But she had had a crush on him for so long, that somehow she almost felt... unfaithful. Really, it was ridiculous.

Marinette pushed that thought to the side as Chat whispered against her skin, "Can we stay like this all day?"

She sighed and twisted her neck so that she could see his face. "No, silly kitty, I have to go to school. And you have to go home and tell your dad whatever story you came up with last night."

"Hmmmm, about that. I think I still need more time." One of his hands tenderly traced its way along her stomach, coming to rest just beneath her breasts. Marinette became aware of a hard length pressing up against her thigh – despite waking up early for once in her life, she might end up being late to school anyway.

“Chat…” she mildly protested as his mouth found the area under her jawline. He gently nibbled at her skin with his lips, occasionally using his tongue to lick her like a mother cat grooming a kitten.

Somehow he managed to be sexy, hilarious, and downright adorable all at the same time.

She smiled as Chat’s hand worked its way back down her stomach, tantalizingly close to another very sensitive area.

“Someone’s feeling frisky this morning,” she teased.

“What can I say? I’m a morning person,” Chat responded, his voice low and silky. He tangled his other hand in her dark hair, his mouth slowly travelling towards her own.

_BZZZZT!_

He had just started kissing the corner of her lips when her phone started loudly vibrating. Startled, Marinette jerked her head slightly, colliding the crown of her head against Chat’s forehead.

“Agh, sorry, _chaton_!”

He pulled back slightly and laughed down at her. “It’s alright, princess. Though it wasn’t quite the kind of head I had in mind…” His cheeks flared pink and his eyes blew wide under the mask. “Er, uh, I mean, uhhh… I didn’t mean to say that second part out loud," he quickly muttered.

Now it was Marinette’s turn to laugh. “I’d almost be concerned if you didn’t say it, silly kitty.” She winked at him, continuing, “Now, if you behave, maybe we can come back to that second part later.”

Chat’s face mirrored the thrill she felt in her chest – a little anxious, but a whole lot of excited.

_BZZZZT!!_

With a sigh, Marinette grabbed her phone. Alya was trying to call. Again.

Noticing the profile picture on the phone, Chat spoke up, “You know she’s not going to stop until you answer it.”

“But for all she knows, I’m still sleeping!”

“Or she’s worried that you got mixed up in the akuma attack and wants to make sure you’re alright.”

“Or she’s worried about _your_ stupendous fall and wants to make sure _you’re_ alright.” She emphasized her words with a playful poke to his chest, taking note of the green and blue bruises that marred his fair complexion.

“Or she wants to know what we were up to last night,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Knowing her, probably all of the above.” She eyed Chat warily, her finger hovering over the green call button.

“Don’t worry, princess, I _pawmise_ I’ll behave while you’re on the phone. Cat’s honor,” he winked. “Now you’d better get that before she decides to storm the bakery.” Chat slid downwards to nuzzle his head against her chest, resuming his purring. _Too cute._

Taking a breath, Marinette answered the phone.

“GIRL. I’VE BEEN TRYING TO GET A HOLD OF YOU ALL EVENING. AND ALL NIGHT. AND ALL MORNING. I’VE BEEN WORRIED TO DEATH OVER HERE I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY.”

Marinette had to hold the phone away from her ear as her best friend yelled into the other end. “Alya, it’s still early in the morning, could you maybe tone it down?”

“Fine. Only because I don’t want to wake up the rest of my family yet. You, however, are not off the hook. Seriously, what the hell, Marinette? A simple text saying ‘oh, hi Alya, best friend in the whole wide world, don’t worry about me, I survived the akuma attack just fine thanks see you at school’ would have been appreciated.”

She felt Chat chuckle against her as he heard the conversation – Alya’s default setting was speakerphone, whether or not you pushed the button to activate it.

“I’m so sorry, Alya. I spaced. Can you forgive me?”

Suddenly she felt Chat’s lips brush against one of her breasts. _Oh no, what is he up to?_

“I might forgive you. _If_ you give the Ladyblog an exclusive scoop on how Chat Noir is doing.”

“Alya!” she gasped. The gasp was more so a result of Chat making his way down her stomach with his lips, ghosting along her sides with his hands, rather than her reaction to Alya trying to guilt her into information.

“Hey, I just thought you’d be more responsive to giving me intel if I guilt-tripped ya first.” She could practically hear her friend wink at her through the phone.

And she could hear the beating of her heart get louder in her ears as Chat kept going lower. It was very distracting, but she didn’t have the heart to stop him.

“If you had asked nicely in the first place, I would have just told yo-ooooOOOH!” her voice squeaked at the end of her sentence – Chat had made his way in between her legs. She tried glaring at him, but the meddlesome cat was making it a point to keep his head down.

“Fine. As your best friend, and by association Chat’s best friend, could you please tell me how he’s doing? That was a pretty nasty fall,” Alya paused for a moment before adding, “And are you _sure_ you’re alright, too?”

“Yep! Yeah, we’re… FINE! Just fine!” she gently nudged Chat with her knee to try to get him to cool it, but that only seemed to spur him on.

“… Marinette, is he there with you right now?” Alya asked in a sly tone.

“Uh, yeah! He… uh… ended up spending… the night… Ladybug… brought him here… when he… passed out… injuries… couldn’t go home… stayed with me… yeah…” she tried to keep her breathing steady as she talked on the phone. She was failing miserably.

“Mm-hmm. Soooo, could I talk to him? You know, ask him for a little statement on how he’s doing?”

“Uhm, he’s a little… busy right now!”

“Busy doing what?”

“NOTHING.” Marinette had to clamp her free hand over her mouth and hold the phone a little ways away from her head, trying to keep the sound of her involuntary moans from travelling across the line. This time when she glared down at Chat he had paused to grin devilishly back up at her. Then, still maintaining eye contact, he very slowly and deliberately licked her sensitive bundle of nerves.

Her pelvic muscles twitched, and she could only hope Alya hadn’t heard the whine that caught in the back of her throat.

_FUCK. SHIT. DAMMIT._

Alya was snickering on the other end of the call. “Well then, if he’s so busy doing _nothing_ right now, how about after school today?”

“But Alya, we have… that thing today. After school.” Trying to keep her voice as normal as possible while Chat pleasured her was turning into some sort of weird workout.

“What thing?”

“You know… the Japanese writing club. That thing. No time for anything else. Told them we’d be there.”

“Marinette, I swear, there’s no such thing as a Japanese writing club at our school.” 

“Tell that to Kanji Club.”

“… suuurrrre. Well, I guess I’ll just have to ask you some questions in between classes. Or during classes. During school in general. You know, when there’s plenty of witnesses in case you try to strangle me when I ask about –“

“OKAY GOOD TALK GOTTA GO SEE YOU AT SCHOOL BYE” she hastily hung up the phone right as Chat gave her clit a particularly sharp suck. She felt herself start to tremble at the sensation, the coiled-up pressure inside of her about ready to burst, when he withdrew his face from between her legs.

_Damn him and that adorable devilish grin._

“Chaaat, why’d you stop?” she whined.

“Oh, you wanted me to keep going? From those looks you were giving me, I thought you _wanted_ me to stop.”

“When I was talking on the phone, yeah. Didn’t you say you were going to behave?” her breathing was returning to normal, but all her nerves in her lower abdomen were crackling with frustration.

“I did. But I didn’t say I’d behave _well_ ,” he smirked at her.

“Ohmigod. Chat, if I don’t spontaneously combust from Alya’s upcoming interrogation, I swear I’m going to kill you.”

“Awww, you know you love me,” he teased in a sing-song voice.

“I do. But after that little display Alya is going to be merciless. And to top it off, now I’m all hot and bothered thanks to you,” she crossed her arms and scowled.

“Well, princess, I can give you a _hand_ with that last part,” he said as he traced his fingers over her hips. “And then maybe we can explore that other thing we discussed earlier…”

“Nuh-uh, kitty. I told you only if you behaved, and by my definition, you did _not_ behave.”

His lips curled in a pout.

“… but I might be persuaded to reconsider.”

Chat immediately wrapped his arms around her thighs, picking right back up where he had left off.

Marinette clawed at the sheets as her vision spun in front of her eyes.

_Maybe waking up early isn’t such a bad thing._

\---

Marinette dashed into homeroom just as the bell was ringing, out of breath and red-faced from physical exertion. Huffing and puffing, she slipped into her seat next to Alya.

Alya gave her a bemused look from the corner of her eye. “Good morning, Marinette.”

“Yeah… yeah it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, no promises on when I'll post another chapter of this... but I've already got some ideas swarming in my head, so it'll probably be sooner rather than later. I want to try to get a couple more chapters out for my AU fic before I come back to this one, though. But we shall see. We shall see.
> 
> In the meantime, feel free to hmu on tumblr (earthboundpenguin or earthboundjedi) - I promise I don't bite ;)


	9. Lots of Chatting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where some semblance of a plot appears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just checked, and this work has over 100 subscribers and 75 total bookmarks now!! And I'm just like, what? Really? Me?  
> Thanks so much, everyone! You're the reason I do what I do <3

As the final bell rang for the day, Marinette tried to hastily shove her things into her bag, hoping to avoid being cornered by Alya. So far today she had been lucky, somehow managing to dodge all of her best friend’s attempts to interrogate her about last night.

Now it seemed like her luck had run out.

Alya had beat her to the door, blocking Marinette (and a handful of other students) from exiting. Alya grabbed her wrist. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you are coming with me.”

“But… we have to get to Kanji Club!” she protested weakly, not wanting to make too large of a scene in front of their classmates.

“Kanji Club my ass.”

Alya started forcefully dragging Marinette down the hall, going around a couple corners before shoving her into an abandoned janitor’s closet. Alya had discovered the closet a couple years ago, and upon realizing that no one was actually using it she had turned it into her own miniature interrogation room. A couple chairs were shoved up against the walls, making space for a small table that was crammed into the middle of the closet.

Alya shut the door behind them and clicked on a single lightbulb, the room’s only source of light. She gestured at one of the chairs, waiting for Marinette to sit down before she continued.

“Okay, girl. None of this will leave this room, I swear to Ladybug and the powers that be. But you’ve been dodging me all day, and as your best friend I have a great need to know what you and your _man_ were up to last night.”

“Alya! That’s… kind of really personal.” Marinette felt her face start to burn.

“Oh, I know. I’m not asking for details or anything, unless you really wanted to volunteer that information. In that case, you know I’m always all ears. I just have a couple questions I want answered.”

“O-okay.”

“First: did you and Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome actually do it?”

“Do what?”

Alya rolled her eyes. “Sex, Marinette.”

Marinette took a gulp of air and nodded her head in response.

“That leads me to the next question: for the love of god, did you use protection?”

“Of course, mom.”

“Don’t get sassy with me, you know I’m just looking out for ya, girl.”

“I know,” Marinette sheepishly muttered. It was one of the many reasons she loved her best friend.

“Good. Now, one more just because I’m curious: Did you…? I mean, with the suit and all…? How does that work?”

Marinette felt like her cheeks were on fire. “Uhm… well… uh, er… he kind of… uh, wasn’t wearing the suit…”

If Alya had been a cat, she would have pounced on Marinette right then and there. Luckily, though, there was only one cat in her life she needed to worry about.

That didn’t mean she didn’t have to worry about Alya, though.

Alya’s hands slammed down on the table as she continued, her voice low but extremely urgent. “You mean to tell me you’ve seen _the_ Chat Noir as… well, not Chat Noir?”

“Er, sort of, but he still wore a mask. I don’t know his identity or anything like that.” Although she _had_ almost found out his identity last night. He had freely offered to reveal himself, but she shut him down. Marinette kept telling herself she had made the right decision.

“Sooooo… just a mask? Nothing else?”

Marinette shook her head. “N-nothing else.”

Alya sat down across from her like an excited schoolgirl. Which made perfect sense. Because she was a girl. And they were in school. And Alya sure as hell was very excited right now.

“Okay, I wanna know: how form-fitting is that suit, exactly? Are all those muscles really real?”

“Oh, it’s, uh… very accurate? Definitely real.” Alya seemed satisfied at her response, but something prompted Marinette to keep going. “It actually, uh… kind of restrains some things…”

A sly smile spread across Alya’s face. “Oh my god. Marinette. You dog.”

Marinette nervously scratched the back of her head, grinning and blushing like there was no tomorrow.

“So it’s probably safe to assume you enjoyed your first time?”

“Yes. Yes I did.”

With that, Alya stood up and hugged her friend. She then opened the door of the closet, the signal that she was done with her line of questioning. That hadn’t been nearly as embarrassing as Marinette thought it was going to be.

As they were walking down the hall to make their way outside, though, Alya thought of another question to ask. “How is he doing, by the way? That was a really nasty fall he had, it’s all anyone on the blogosphere has been talking about.”

Marinette adjusted the strap of her bag as they started down the staircase. “Miraculously, he’s fine. He’s got some pretty nasty bruises and he thinks he fractured a couple ribs, but other than that it’s like he only fell down some stairs or something. Not over a hundred meters off the Eiffel Tower.”

Speaking of falling down the stairs, Marinette’s arms flailed out as her feet missed the last couple of steps, her hands latching onto the railing to keep from completely falling over on her face.

Alya started laughing as she helped Marinette regain her balance. “Holy crap, girl, I think the two of you were made for each other!”

Marinette smiled at her best friend.

_Maybe. Just maybe._

They made their way outside, Alya giving her one last bear hug before they parted ways on the sidewalk. After releasing her, Alya spoke up one more time, “Okay, I have just one more question.”

“Go for it,” she sighed, knowing nothing she said would stop Alya from asking her question anyway.

“Does he make you happy?”

Marinette felt a cheerful little butterfly flap around in her stomach, the corners of her mouth curving upwards. “Yeah. He does.”

“Good. I figured as much, but I had to ask. Otherwise I’d have to go beat him up or something.”

“Alya, he survived a fall off the Eiffel Tower. I hardly think you’d be able to do much worse.”

“Don’t underestimate my power,” she said, grinning deviously as she cracked her knuckles.

“Please don’t beat up my boyfriend.”

“Oh, I won’t, so long as he doesn’t give me a reason to kick his leather-clad ass all the way to Kingdom Come.”

Somehow, Marinette didn’t doubt Alya was capable of doing just that.

Alya gave her another quick hug before heading in the opposite direction. As she was walking, she called over her shoulder, “See ya tomorrow, Marinette! Have fun with your _homework_!” Alya gave her a very noticeable wink.

Marinette rolled her eyes as she started walking home. She knew Alya wasn’t actually referring to homework, but the heavy stack of books stashed in her bag told her this evening was going to be anything but fun.

\---

With a deep sigh, Marinette dropped the bag of books on her bedroom floor and fell face-down onto her chaise.

“Ugh, why can’t homework just do itself?” she complained into the cushioned surface, waiting for Tikki to give her the words of encouragement she needed to hear to get her rear in gear.

… There was only silence.

“Tik – “

“Shhhh, Marinette,” Tikki whispered in her ear. She felt the kwami give her a tiny kiss on the cheek before zipping off to some sort of hiding spot.

That could only mean one thing: there was someone in her room.

And since she had seen both of her parents downstairs in the bakery, it probably meant that someone was Chat.

She pushed herself up, becoming aware of the soft sound of ragged, uneven breathing.

_Oh no._

She quickly scanned her room, searching for her partner. She found him curled up on the floor at the foot of her bed, his arms squeezing his legs to his chest and his forehead resting on his knees. He was currently transformed, covered in his leather catsuit, his cat ears pressed back against his skull. He appeared to be shaking like a leaf in the wind.

_Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no._

She ran up her stairs as fast as she dared, trying not to trip over herself as she rushed to his side. Sliding onto the floor next to him, she protectively placed a hand on his shoulder. He continued to tremble under her touch.

“Chat. _Chaton_ , what’s wrong?” She had a stream of questions she wanted to ask him, but she held them in knowing that the barrage would only hurt in this situation.

She sat patiently, sliding her hand across the tense muscles of his back. After making a few circular passes, Chat started to spit out words, still shaking violently.

“Knock knock.”

_Huh?_

“G-get the… door.”

_What is this crazy cat talking about? No one’s knocking on my door!_

“I-it’s… a p-panic attack.”

She felt his body tremble with the addition of a low, nervous chuckle mixing with his sobs. She couldn’t see his face, but she could only imagine that he was smiling one of his self-depreciating smiles she’d seen from time to time. The kind that broke her heart.

“Silly kitty,” she murmured, brushing away a lock of golden hair to kiss the top of one of his human ears. Then she resumed rubbing circles into his back, giving him the time he needed to steady himself.

With each passing minute, she felt the shaking subside and watched as his cat ears slowly righted themselves on his head. She estimated that about ten minutes passed before he calmed down to the point where he would be able to carry on a conversation, though his body still shuddered every time he took a deep breath.

“ _Chaton?_ ”

“Y-yes, princess?”

Her voice was low, “Was it your dad?”

She heard a stream of air hiss out from between his teeth. “Sort of. Not exactly.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He nodded his head against his knees. Still keeping his face hidden in the cocoon he had made from his limbs, he asked, “First, c-could you…? I haven’t eaten all day…”

_The poor thing. I wonder how long he’s been hiding in my room, then._

“Sure thing, I’ll be right back.”

She straightened herself up from the floor, kissing the back of his head before softly making her way to her trapdoor that led downstairs. Quietly letting the slab of wood close behind her, she quickly made her way down to the bakery.

“Hey mom, dad, do we have any extra croissants?” she asked her parents as she approached the counter where they stood.

“Marinette, can’t you wait until dinnertime?” Tom asked, handing over a paper bag to a customer.

“I’m, uh, really hungry.”

“You’ve been hungry a lot lately. Must be a growth spurt,” her mom laughed, rummaging around before grabbing a small plate of croissants. “Now, I hope this won’t ruin your appetite for dinner,” she teased.

Marinette gladly took the plate from her mom before running back up the stairs. “Thanks! Don’t worry, it won’t!” she called over her shoulder.

 _It’s not like I’ll be the one eating them, anyway_.

When she got back to her room, she found Chat more or less in the same position she had left him in. He was still curled up on the floor, but at least he had finally lifted his head so she could see the upper half of his face. His green eyes, bright from crying, lit up with joy as he spotted the plate of croissants.

She walked up the stairs and resumed her place at his side, setting the plate down in front of them. She heard a sharp growl come from his stomach. “Eat up, kitty,” she teased with a small laugh, “before my parents think I’m keeping a wild animal in my room.”

“Well, they wouldn’t be wrong,” he jokingly said back before greedily tearing into a croissant.

Marinette watched him with a smile as he quickly made the plate of food disappear. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Tikki on her bookshelf, cautiously watching the two of them with a worried expression.

_Now, why would her kwami be worried about Chat?_

Turning her focus back to Chat, she caught a glimpse of him inhaling the last croissant. Those hadn’t lasted very long at all.

She smiled warmly at him as she helped him brush some crumbs off of the side of his mouth, fondly thinking back to the night she had first done that. The night she, as Marinette, had first kissed him.

He must have been remembering that moment as well, for he reached up and captured her hand with his clawed one, bringing it fully in front of his lips to press a tender kiss against the back of her fingers. His mouth still in contact with her fingers, he looked up at her, his green eyes burning with an intense loving look. Almost too intense.

“Mari, I don’t know what I would do without you.” His breath tickled the skin of her hand.

“Well, for one thing, you’d be a very hungry kitty cat.”

The two of them giggled as he released her hand, readjusting so that he was sitting cross-legged on her floor. Most definitely an improvement over his earlier fetal position.

She slid her hand down the length of his arm, entwining her fingers in his as his hand rested in his lap. She felt him emit a brief, low purr as he leaned against her side. “So, _chaton_ , do you want to talk about it?”

“Considering I’ve spent most of the day curled up on your floor, I think I _need_ to talk about it.”

_Well, that already sort of answers one of my questions._

“How long _were_ you sitting here, by the way?” she asked.

“Well,” he said, taking a deep breath before continuing, “pretty much since you left for school. Minus about fifteen minutes or so.

“After you left, I transformed so that I could head home myself. I had kind of thought up a cover story to tell my father by then, planning to tell him I was mugged or something once he spotted the bruises. I was probably about halfway home at that point. And that’s when I started thinking about what his reaction would be and how to counter it.

“But I couldn’t get past that thought, no matter what scenario I ran in my head.

“What if he became even more overprotective because of the cover story? Locked the doors and windows and installed some sort of 24/7 guard? I’d never be able to escape again, not even as Chat Noir.

“What if he simply got really mad that I’d disappeared for so long? Again, lockdown. And probably punishment. And knowing him it would involve starving me or something.”

“That would be child abuse!” Marinette interrupted.

“Not the way he spins it. I would know, I’ve tried pulling that card before.

“And then I thought, what if he sees the bruises and thinks I’m a failure? That I can’t even defend myself in a fight? Or that I’m not even capable of doing the one job he expects of me? I…” his voice dropped to whisper, “I can’t let him see me as less than perfect.”

“That’s ridiculous. Nobody’s perfect,” she said, squeezing his hand.

“I… I know. Or, at least, part of me knows,” he squeezed her hand back, running his free hand through his hair. “But that part of me is having a lot of trouble convincing the other part to chill. And I’m just so worried about disappointing my father. About disappointing anyone. I… I…”

His words stalled in his mouth, prompting Marinette to give him an encouraging squeeze.

“I thought being Chat Noir would always be my escape from my day-to-day personal hell,” he continued, “but lately my civilian life keeps getting in the way and messing with my head. Even when I’m transformed.”

Chat’s voice dropped to a whisper, “I don’t know what to do anymore, Marinette. How do I make it go away?”

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Well, if I were you I’d confront your dad.”

“But I haven’t been able to even _think_ about talking to him lately without getting all anxious and panicky.”

“Then I’ll come with you.”

“Marinette,” he sighed.

“What?”

“My identity. You can’t know, remember?”

“Then what about Ladybug? Surely she could help?”

“She can’t know, either. I don’t even think she wants to know. Besides, she has way more important things to worry about than my personal life.”

At that moment, Marinette wanted to shake him and scream, _I’M LADYBUG YOU DORK I WANT TO HELP YOU AND I CARE ABOUT YOU AND I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY DAMMIT._

But she held back her problematic confession, instead responding with, “ _Chaton_ , don’t say that, I’m sure she cares about you.”

“I mean, yeah, but… I don’t want her fighting my battles for me. I don’t want _anyone_ fighting my battles for me. I think this is something I need to figure out by myself.”

She placed her other hand on top of their clasped hands. “I get that. Really, I do. Just keep in mind you don’t have to do it alone, alright? I’ll always be here for you.”

“I know. Thank you, Marinette,” he murmured, nuzzling up against her shoulder.

They sat together in silence for a couple minutes until Chat’s breathing had become so steady she was almost worried he had fallen asleep. She could tell he was still stressed – his musky scent she had become accustomed to had a wild edge to it.

“Marinette,” Chat mumbled, debunking the idea that he had fallen asleep.

“Yes, _Chaton_?”

“Could I spend the night here again?”

She looked down at him, examining his tired and heavy face. His playful green eyes were dull as he returned her gaze as if he were exhausted. It was hard to tell if he was worn out from his panic attack, or if he was using up all of his energy to keep another one buried deep inside.

Seeing him like this caused a part of Marinette’s heart to ache uncontrollably.

“Of course, kitty.” She kissed the top of his head. “I won’t be able to entertain you much, I have a lot of homework to do tonight. But make yourself at home.”

He smiled weakly at her, head still on her shoulder. “Thank you, princess.”

“No problem. Can I get you anything? Water? Or I could bring you up some more food after dinner? Did you need to take a shower or anything?”

“Thanks, but I’m fine.” He tilted his head so he could reach her neck, gently kissing under her jaw. “Actually, I think I’m just going to sleep for a while.”

She gave his hand one last squeeze as he let go and crawled up onto her bed. There was a brief flash of green light as Marinette started walking down to her desk to start her homework, and she saw a little black shadow zip across her room to the shelf Tikki had hid on.

About a half hour later when she went down for dinner Chat was already sound asleep on her bed, curled up against the wall with his masked face peeking out from under the blankets.

\---

Marinette yawned as she closed her textbook. _Finally done. Thank goodness._

Gathering all her papers in her backpack so she’d have one less thing to worry about in the morning, she switched off her desk light and trudged upstairs to her bed. Chat, though no longer completely cocooned in her blankets, was still out cold. His bare chest rose and fell peacefully in a steady rhythm, a shadow of worry falling across his features.

Marinette stripped off her clothes, slipping into bed with nothing but her underwear on. She curled up against her partner’s side, her nerves tingling at the sensation of her skin against his. She inhaled his scent as she draped an arm across his waist, feeling an innate need to hold him as close as possible. Without waking up, she felt one of his hands reposition itself so that he was cupping her shoulder.

“ _Goodnight, mon chaton…”_ she murmured softly against his chest.

\---

“Plagg, I’m worried about him.” The little red kwami was once again watching the sleeping couple, nervously hugging a pencil she had found.

Plagg sighed. “I am, too. For a while he was actually pretty happy, but now over the past couple of months it’s like he’s been slowly falling apart. I _really_ don’t like his dad. Gives me weird vibes.”

“Everything gives you bad vibes.”

“No, you’re mistaking that for my lovable grumpiness.”

Tikki rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Has he been talking to you at all about how he’s been feeling?”

“Not lately. That’s why I’m concerned,” the black kwami frowned. “The most I get out of him is whenever he’s talking with Marinette. And he used to tell me _everything_. I’m not sure if being with her is actually helping or hurting in the long run.”

“But they’re so cute and happy together!”

“Except that each of them is still stupidly in love with the other’s alternate identity. Admit it, they’re unstable.”

“It’s just complicated! That’s how it always happens,” Tikki huffed, crossing her arms and ditching the pencil.

“We fucked up a perfectly good kid is what happened. Look at him. He’s got anxiety.”

“Plagg,” she scolded her counterpart. “His dad did that, not us.”

“No shit, but we haven’t exactly helped much.”

Tikki sighed, letting the argument drop. She threw Plagg a knowing look. “Just take care of him, alright?”

“I’m doing my best. He can be surprisingly stubborn, though.”

With that, the two kwamis settled down on Marinette’s shelf to catch some shut-eye before morning.

\---

Marinette was woken up by the blaring sound of her alarm. Fumbling around for a while, she ended up rolling off the bed wrapped in blankets before she turned it off.

“Ugh,” she moaned, rubbing a spot on her elbow she had banged on the way down. “Sorry about that, Chat, I – “

She was cutoff midsentence as she peeked back up at her bed. No Chat. The only sign he had been there was his lingering musk on the sheets.

“Tikki,” she called out to her kwami, “did you see Chat leave?”

“Sorry, Marinette, I guess I was still sleeping.” Tikki flew over and sat on the edge of the bed in front of Marinette. “Maybe he finally went to go talk to his dad!”

“I hope so, Tikki,” she sighed, staring off into space. “I really hope so…”

“… Marinette?”

“Yeah?”

“School?”

“Oh, yeah,” Marinette grumbled, untangling herself from her blankets while her kwami giggled.

\---

When Marinette rushed into the classroom, just minutes before the first bell, everyone was busy excitedly talking amongst themselves. As she approached her desk, she smiled at Nino and Alya as they looked up at her.

They had a shocked expression on their faces like they had just seen a ghost.

“C’mon, guys, I’m not _always_ late! Don’t act so surprised!” she teased, slipping into her seat.

“Girl, have you not heard?” Alya raised an eyebrow at her friend.

“Heard what?”

“You didn’t see the news? Internet articles? Anything?” Alya frowned.

“Umm, no?” Marinette replied, “I was too busy avoiding being late.”

Alya bit her lip as Nino turned around and pulled out his phone. He pressed the screen a couple times, bringing up his local news app and sliding it across the desk to Marinette.

Marinette felt her heart plummet as she saw the headline scrolling across the top:

_FASHION VICTIM – ADRIEN AGRESTE, TEEN MODEL AND SON OF GABRIEL AGRESTE, HAS GONE MISSING._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo... apparently we're relocating from the Sin Bin to the Alley of Angst. Heh.
> 
> Also, a couple plugs:  
> First, Akuma/Miracusona Week has started, so I've launched sort of a mini-fic (well, mini compared to this one) to go along with that. The first chapter is my akumasona, but the rest of the chapters from here on out will be about my miracusona/oc who I actually kind of love. [So I highly suggest clicking here if you want to go check it out.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6602620/chapters/15105745)  
> Next, my [Miraculous French Revolution AU](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6500158/chapters/14879647) \- I should be updating it again sometime this weekend if I actually write the next chapter fast enough, and... well, just go read it. It is my child and I love it.


	10. Heavy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Marinette thinks Paris has pirates and Gabriel is actually worried about his son.

Marinette had never been a fan of math class.

It was her first class of the day, making her overall grade in the course inversely proportional to the number of times she had arrived late. Or altogether missed class. But somehow she put in just enough work to get by - it may not be her best subject, but she knew that one Marinette plus one failing math grade equals no design school. And there was no way anything short of the apocalypse was going to stop her from reaching that goal.

Today, however, Marinette _hated_ math class.

Never before had she wished so fervently for a horde of brain-eating zombies to bust their way through the brick and mortar of the school.

Because today was a pop quiz day, which meant she couldn’t “leave to go to the bathroom” until the quiz was finished. Or else she would forfeit her grade and fail the quiz, digging herself into a deep hole she wouldn’t be able to climb back out of. Which would surely mean no design school.

_BUT ADRIEN IS MISSING I NEED TO FIND HIM NOW._

_Marinette, if you don’t focus your sorry ass on this quiz you’re never going to design school._

_BUT MARINETTE, HE NEEDS ME. LADYBUG NEEDS TO FIND HIM. RIGHT NOW._

_Marinette, your future hangs in the balance. Adrien’s future isn’t about to change in the next thirty minutes._

_BUT HE COULD DIE. ANYONE CAN DIE IN THIRTY MINUTES._

_Unless he’s planning to throw himself off the Eiffel Tower, I doubt that. If anything, it’s more likely that someone will find him during that time frame and turn him in for ransom money or something._

_OH NO HE’S GOING TO BE ABDUCTED BY PIRATES._

_That is not what I said now “GODAMMIT FOCUS ON YOUR QUIZ MARINETTE.”_

She heard a cough from the front of the classroom as the teacher cleared her throat. “Marinette, please keep your rousing pep talks to yourself.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled as Alya snickered beside her. Marinette fixed her stare on the piece of paper before her, trying her hardest to take her own advice and focus. Assuming that the part of her telling her to focus was the rational part.

But every time she looked down at her paper, instead of the word problems all she could see was the text from the news article:

_If water is flowing into a conical reservoir at a rate of 3 liters per hour but the opening at the bottom is leaking at a rate of 1 liter per hour how long will it take to fill up the reservoir if FASHION VICTIM – ADRIEN AGRESTE, TEEN MODEL AND SON OF GABRIEL AGRESTE, HAS GONE MISSING???_

Emitting a groaning sound from the back of her throat, Marinette started gnawing on the eraser of her pencil. This was about to be the longest quiz she ever took.

\---

Marinette nearly sunk to her knees after slamming the door to the girl’s restroom closed behind her. After handing in her quiz at the end of class, she had run to the bathroom faster than the time it took for Alya to come up with a new theory about who Ladybug is.

The space was completely deserted, so Tikki darted out of Marinette’s bag so the two could talk face-to-face. After Tikki perched on Marinette’s outstretched hand, the dark haired girl started breaking out into a fit of hysterics.

“Tikki! Adrien! He’s gone! He’s in trouble! He needs me! He needs Ladybug! Tikki, transfo-“

“Marinette!” Tikki interrupted. “Marinette, please listen to me!”

“But… Adrien… gone…” Marinette’s voice cracked.

“And I’m sure he’s perfectly capable of fending for himself until Ladybug is done with the school day. Or at least until lunchtime.”

“But Tikki – “

“Marinette, what if he’s missing because he ran away? What if he doesn’t _want_ to be found?”

“Then all the more reason I need to investigate! Something’s wrong, I can _feel_ it. He wouldn’t just run away unless something terrible had happened.”

The little kwami put a hand on Marinette’s cheek. “I know you care about him, Marinette, but Ladybug can’t run willy-nilly around the city missing even more of her classes just because she’s worried about her friend. I promise, this can wait until after school.”

“But what’s the point of being a superhero if I can’t even protect everyone I care about?” Marinette’s vision blurred as her tears started forcing their way out of her eyes.

“The point is to protect everyone you possibly can, Marinette, not just your friends and family. You know that.”

“So why shouldn’t I do what I can to protect him right now?! I need to talk to his dad. I need to find clues. I need to do _something!_ ”

“Marinette, you’re not in the right frame of mind right now. Please, just take a couple deep breaths and we can figure out a good way to go about doing this without you missing too much school –"

“Tikki, I can’t!”

“Marinette, yes you can! Please trust me!” Tikki looked up at Marinette with pleading eyes.

“But Tikki - !”

“Marinette, _please_!”

“But dammit, Tikki, _I love him!!_ ” The floodgates had opened, and Marinette felt a river of tears start streaming down her face.

“Marinette…”

“ _TIKKI, TRANSFORM ME!!_ ”

The last thing Marinette saw before the blinding flash of red light was the sight of her kwami giving her a resigned, disappointed look.

She felt her crumbling strength become fortified as her body was wrapped in the bright red suit, her breathing calming as each spot appeared on her skin. But the magic of her transformation did nothing to dull the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears or the buzzing panic in the back of her mind.

_Adrien…_

She took a moment to steady herself on the edge of a sink as a realization hit her.

_I still love Adrien._

It wasn’t the kind of love that you feel towards a best friend or close family member, the kind where you would drop anything and everything to help them out. It wasn’t the kind where you are extremely concerned about the other person’s wellbeing, even though most of the time _you’re_ the one jokingly threatening to kill them when they decide to smear an ice cream cone in your face. It wasn’t the warm, fluffy, reassuring kind of love that comes with all of that.

No, the love she felt for Adrien Agreste was a burning, passionate, if-I-need-to-literally-destroy-the-world-to-ensure-your-happiness-then-goddammit-I’ll-do-it kind of love.

The exact same kind of love she had also been developing for Chat Noir.

_How can I love two separate people the same way? How can I even love one person so much, not to mention_ two _?_

Marinette splashed a little cold water onto her masked face, forcing down the nausea she felt rising in the pit of her stomach.

_I’m a mess._

She straightened up, staring down her reflection in the mirror.

_But I can deal with that later. Right now, Adrien needs me._

Willing her spine to turn from mush to steel, Marinette took a deep breath and shoved open the door of the girl’s bathroom.

_Adrien, here I come_.

\---

As Ladybug approached the Agreste family mansion, she could already see the swarm of reporters from blocks away. Current events had been painfully slow since the last akuma attack, so every news reporter, journalist, blogger, and any other human being not currently tied up with actual responsibilities was flocking to the front gate of the mansion hoping to be plucked from the crowd for an exclusive with Gabriel Agreste.

But despite the famous fashion designer releasing the announcement that his son was missing, the tightly closed gates made it look as if Mr. Agreste wanted nothing else to do with the media today.

Luckily for her, she wasn’t the media.

It also helped that she had a magic yo-yo that could propel her over the gated perimeter and swing in through one of the open windows on the second floor.

She landed inside with a soft clatter as her feet met tiled floor. Before she even had a chance to straighten up from her crouched position, her senses were nearly overwhelmed with the smell of soap and some sort of expensive fragrance.

“Ahh, Ladybug. I was hoping you would come.”

Looking up, Marinette locked eyes with a tall blonde-haired man with cold, steel blue eyes. The fashion mogul seemed as composed and unruffled as ever, but his streaks of silvering hair seemed to stand out more than usual.

“I’m assuming you saw the report that was published?” Gabriel continued.

She nodded. “Of course, that’s why I’m here.”

“Excellent. I will take you up to my son’s room to see if you can shed any light on the situation.” He turned around, motioning for her to follow him up the staircase. “I wanted to give you the first crack at any clues my son might have left behind – you tend to be much more resourceful than the local authorities, and I was hoping we might be able to use Adrien’s fascination with you to our advantage.”

_Oh, right, because Adrien has a crush on my superhero identity. Let me just file that away in my tangled web of emotions, too._

She followed him inside Adrien’s room. It wasn’t the first time the masked superhero had been there, but the sheer size of the room still took her breath away. It had everything a person could dream of, from a personal library to a high-tech computer set-up to a rock climbing wall. But despite all of the objects and colors, the room was stark and cold from a distinct lack of human interaction.

For some reason, her wandering gaze settled on the large bed in the corner. It looked comfortable, and it was at least twice the size of her own bed, but it gave off an extremely lonely air. The sheets were pristinely folded so that there were no wrinkles or creases in sight, clearly the result of both obsessive housekeeping and being untouched recently by its usual occupant.

A person’s bed is supposed to be the warmest, friendliest, most intimate piece of furniture in their room, but everything about Adrien’s bed screamed cold, distant, and clinical. Looking at his bed while fondly reminiscing on the recent increased warmth of her own bed, Marinette felt her heart ache and her stomach twist into a knot.

Maybe the theory that Adrien had run away from home wasn’t that crazy, after all.

Gabriel sent her a sideways glance. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

“Oh, sorry,” she hastily said, pulling her gaze away from the bed. Deciding that his desk would be the best area to check first, she started crossing the room. “Mr. Agreste, if you don’t mind me asking, when was the last time you saw your son?”

“Nearly forty-eight hours ago, now,” he answered as Ladybug started carefully pulling out desk drawers and checking their contents. “We had an early afternoon photoshoot on Monday. I had left early so that I could come back here and continue other work, entrusting that Nathalie would bring him back after the shoot was finished.”

Marinette leafed through a stack of photos she had pulled out, all of them pictures from their impromptu class photoshoot in the park a few years ago. A small smile curved at the corner of her lips as she remembered how kind and sweet Adrien had been towards camera-shy Juleka that day. “So I take it that he didn’t come back with Nathalie?”

“That would be correct. According to her report, he had told her he needed to go to the bathroom after the shoot was finished, but he never returned to get in the limo.”

“So why didn’t you alert anyone then when he didn’t come home?” she raised an eyebrow at Gabriel.

He responded in a somewhat resigned manner, “This isn’t the first time that has happened. In recent years, he has developed a tendency to skip the transportation provided him and instead take a leisurely walk home. A rather dangerous habit I do not particularly approve of, but I have always let it slide since it seems to curtail his restless energy. And, since he would always come home within a few hours, I did not sense anything out of the ordinary in this case.”

Marinette set down the stack of photos back in their place, looking over at Gabriel before moving onto the next drawer. He stood as straight and stiff as a board, but a chink in his calm armor appeared as his forehead creased in worry. Good to know the business man really did care about his son, even though she had never witnessed him show any outward affection towards him.

“So when did you start to notice something was wrong?” she questioned.

“I had expected he would turn up sometime later that evening, but he never showed. And when no one saw him come home that night, and he wasn’t present at any of his morning activities, I had assumed that perhaps he had acted out and decided to spend time with one of his uncultured friends from school.” Marinette tried to keep her expression neutral while the fashion designer continued. “But when dinner time rolled around yesterday and there was still no sign of my son, I truly began to worry.

“I remember that there was an akuma attack right around the time he first disappeared, and I’m worried that something might have happened to him.”

The man looked clearly distraught, prompting Ladybug to try and reassure him. “Mr. Agreste, even if anything had happened to him during the attack, everything would have gone back to the way it was beforehand after I cleaned everything up. That’s how my magic works.”

“Of course, I know that,” he said gruffly, his line of sight flickering to her earrings. Suddenly self-conscious, Marinette ducked her head and started pulling papers out of the next drawer. Gabriel continued, “That wouldn’t stop him from wandering off somewhere in the confusion, though, or being taken by untoward characters.”

_True. Like pirates._

_Marinette, pull yourself together, there aren’t any pirates in Paris… are there?_

“Well if that’s the case, Mr. Agreste, I’ll be sure to find him as quickly as possible. You have my word.”

Gabriel folded his arms across his chest. “Wouldn’t this go faster if that partner of yours was here, too?”

“I didn’t tell him to come yet, I didn’t want him interfering or messing up any of the evidence before I got a chance to look at it,” she retorted, making up a reason on the spot. She had been actively trying _not_ to think about Chat. The last thing she needed right now was her partner hovering over her shoulder, blissfully unaware that she was the same girl he had been getting extremely intimate with lately, helping her find the boy who definitely harbored feelings for her superhero persona. The same boy she still maybe probably most definitely has feelings for despite how close she had gotten to Chat.

Everything would have been so much simpler if Marinette hadn’t fallen for Chat. And if Chat hadn’t fallen for Marinette.

“That cat really has a way of messing things up sometimes,” she grumbled under her breath.

The older fashion designer chuckled, “I knew there was a reason I liked you, Ladybug. Perhaps my son’s interest in you isn’t all that ill-placed.”

Marinette nervously laughed along, trying to brush off his last comment. Trying to ignore the fact that the part of her Adrien liked was just a fake front she put on for a world that expected her to be some all-powerful superhero.

Because the real Marinette is a dork and a klutz. A klutz who had let the stack of papers in her hands slip through her grip and onto the floor.

She knelt down, groaning as she fumbled with the mess she had made.

“Don’t worry about that, I can always have someone clean it up later,” Gabriel said with a wave of his hand.

Ladybug sheepishly stopped trying to straighten up the pile of papers, standing up to continue her search. But before her eyes left the scattered papers, she noticed a pink, heart-shaped card peeking out from underneath various letters and newspaper clippings. The heart inside of her chest skipped a beat.

_He kept it? After all this time? But I didn’t even sign it- Oh no, he must think it was from Ladybug._

_Which wouldn’t exactly be wrong…_

She snapped herself out of her train of thought before Gabriel could shoot her another confused look. “Have you tried to track his cell phone yet?” she inquired, continuing her scan of Adrien’s desk.

“That would only be a useful tactic if he had taken his phone with him.”

Marinette tried not to slap her forehead in frustration as she immediately laid eyes on the sleek, high-tech device sitting next to the computer keyboard.

_This is why I’m a superhero and not a detective. Alya would be much better at this than me._

“Right, um, so… would Adrien have any reason not to come home? Other than being abducted or something?”

“Are you implying my son ran away?” She could practically feel the heat building behind Gabriel’s gaze. And not a pleasant summer heat – it was more comparable to the destructive heat given off by a volcano.

She immediately raised her hands in defense. “I’m just trying to look at all the possibilities. If he ran away because of something that happened or an emotion he’s feeling, that might even put him at risk of being…” she finished her sentence with a gulp, “ _akumatized_.”

“My son would _never_ be akumatized.”

“Sir, with all due respect, it can happen to anyone. And if that’s the case, it could potentially complicate finding him and bringing him home. Or make it _easier_ to find him. It would all depend on – “

“ _My son would never_ , nor will he _ever_ , _become akumatized_. So I suggest you come up with a different theory about what happened to him, or perhaps I would be better off going to the local authorities after all.”

The stubbornness with which Gabriel insisted his point was… odd. And a little concerning. She knew the man saw his son as some sort of perfect human being ( _not that he was all that wrong_ ), but surely he had to know that no one was completely immune to Hawkmoth’s influence. But it was pointless trying to argue about it, especially not while he’s still distraught over his missing son.

“Well, Mr. Agreste, it seems like Adrien either was abducted by someone, potentially during the confusion during the akuma attack the other day, or he simply ran away. And nothing that I can see here,” she motioned at the room around her, “is giving me any helpful clues whatsoever as to what might have happened or where he might have gone.”

Gabriel’s face mirrored her sinking heart as she gave her synopsis.

“But I promise to keep a close eye out for him until he reappears. It would be best if the police were put on high alert, too – with all of my superhero powers, I still only have one pair of eyes.”

She walked over to the wall of windows on the other side of the room, nodding at Gabriel. “I’ll check in every couple days or so to see if anything develops.” Marinette slid open one of the large panes of glass, turning to offer some parting words. “He’ll turn up. We’ll find him. I promise,” she said, trying to reassure herself in addition to the worried father.

With that, she swung her yo-yo around and launched herself out of Adrien’s room, trying to choke back the tears of panic and worry that were surfacing behind her mask.

_I’ll find him. I_ have _to find him._

\---

Chat Noir crouched on a building on the outskirts of town, a crisp fall breeze ruffling his hair. He had been sitting in the same spot all morning, watching as the city slowly woke up and started hustling and bustling with its daily tasks. The bustling had increased as gradually screen after screen started flashing with pictures of Adrien Agreste’s face, a signal to the city that one of its beloved citizens had gone missing.

It was a face he didn’t want to see again.

Or, at least, not for a while. Not until he figured some things out.

_Kid… kid, can we talk?_

The voice at the back of his mind was faint, but it was clear enough to know it belonged not to his subconscious, but to his kwami. He debated for a minute, trying to decide if he really wanted to talk to Plagg or not. Ultimately his polite nature won out, realizing that it must be genuinely important if Plagg had bothered to reach out to him from the depths of his transformation.

There was a flash of green, and when Adrien opened his eyes Plagg was already hovering in front of his face.

“Kid, talk to me. What’s up?” the little black god looked at him with concern.

He sat down on the roof, stretching his stiff legs out over the edge and dangling them in the air. “I don’t know, Plagg,” he sighed.

“You don’t know, or you just don’t want to admit what you _do_ know?”

“Plagg…”

“Face it, kid, you’re not exactly the poster child for impulse decisions like this. Something’s eating at you, and I wanna help you get to the bottom of it.”

Adrien fiddled with the costume mask he was still wearing. “That’s just it. I think you might be the problem.” When Plagg looked at him with wide, hurt eyes, he immediately backtracked. “Not you, exactly! I mean, Chat Noir. Being Chat Noir. The whole double life thing.”

He sighed again before continuing, “I don’t know, Plagg. Everything has just been so mixed up lately. I feel more like myself whenever I’m Chat, whenever I’m with Marinette. Or with Ladybug. But Chat doesn’t really exist. Chat can’t walk around town like a normal person and do normal people things.

“That’s what Adrien is supposed to be for. But that side of me can’t do normal things, either. I have even less freedom when I’m free from the mask, especially lately, and I just… I don’t know. I feel like I’m trapped in my own body, no matter what guise I happen to have on.” He frustratedly snapped the elastic of the mask, barely registering the sting it left against his skin.

“Then we just gotta put your superhero personality into your civilian body! Problem solved! Let’s go home and get some camembert.”

“No, Plagg, it’s not as simple as that.” Adrien gripped the edge of the roof until his knuckles turned white. “My father… how do I tell him I’m not the kind of person he wants me to be? What if he doesn’t understand? What if he lashes out at me? Or what if he lashes out at someone else? He was just starting to level out a bit since mom disappeared…”

“Again, simple solution, kid. We tell him. And by ‘we’ I mean you. Because a small talking and flying black cat is sure to give him a heart attack. Though that might inadvertently solve your problem, too.”

Adrien glared daggers at his kwami. “Plagg, I don’t want to hurt him.

“But… being around him, and being so… _restricted._ I feel like I can’t process it any more. My mind is telling me to stay and work through it, or even just grin and bear it like I always do. But every other part of me is screaming to run away from all my problems. Get some distance.”

“That would be the good ol’ flight or fight response in action right there. And I know you, kid, you’re a fighter. So let’s get off this rooftop, go back, and – “

“No, Plagg,” he interrupted. “I… I don’t want to fight anymore. Or, at least, not right now. Not until I get whatever this is out of my system.”

“And what exactly is ‘this’?”

“I’m not really sure. It’s whatever this confused, panicked, shaky feeling is that I can’t seem to get out of my head.”

“Anxiety? That shit doesn’t exactly go away on its own.”

“Language, Plagg,” Adrien scowled. “But I’m not sure. It might be partially that. But I’m also just really confused. I don’t feel like I even know who I am anymore. Am I Chat Noir? Am I Adrien?”

_Do I really love Marinette? Do I still feel anything for Ladybug?_

His kwami answered his rhetorical question, completely unaware of his additional internal dialogue, “All of the above. That’s the beauty of the Miraculous.”

“Then maybe that’s what I need a break from. The Miraculous.”

For possibly the first time since he had met his kwami, Plagg was rendered speechless. He looked at Adrien with wide eyes, a shocked blinking motion his only response to his chosen’s statement.

Adrien continued, “I need a chance to figure out who I am. What kind of person I am without anyone or anything putting me into some sort of role they want me to fill. What kind of thoughts and feelings I have completely on my own. Once I know that, maybe I’ll finally be able to confront my father.”

“Now Adrien, no need to be hasty – “

“Plagg, by no means is this any reflection of my feelings toward you.”

“Kid – “

“You’re still probably one of the best things to ever happen to me. And you’re my best friend. But I just need some space and time to figure things out.” Adrien felt his breath hitch in the back of his throat.

“ _Adrien_ – “

“I’m sorry, Plagg.”

“ADRI – “

The kwami’s pleading was cut off, leaving Adrien alone on the rooftop with no other sound except for the whispering wind.

His silver ring felt like it carried the weight of the world as he held it in his palm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> I'M SORRY THIS HURT ME TOO
> 
> What's gonna happen next? I'm not even sure anymore. These kids have some issues to work through, so we're probably gonna be stuck in the Alley of Angst for a bit until they sort things out.
> 
> (If you feel the need to scream at me outside of the comments below or see what shenanigans I'm up to while waiting for the next update, you can find me on tumblr @earthboundpenguin)


	11. The Passage of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where some time has passed.

Marinette sighed as she let her hands hold her head up above her desk. The chalk writing on the board could have very well been hieroglyphs, though she was pretty sure their class was long past covering ancient Egyptian history. Between her worrying, stressing, and general lack of sleeping, focusing on schoolwork was definitely at the bottom of her priorities list. To be honest, it was more like studying was on the back of the list. Because the front of her imaginary list was filled with two thoughts, written in size 48pt. font:

_Where is Adrien?_

_Why did Chat disappear without saying goodbye?_

It felt like it had been months - no, years - since she had laid eyes on either of the blonde boys in her life. In reality it had only been six or eight weeks or something - Marinette was vaguely aware of the Christmas decorations that were slowly popping up around Paris, sparkling on street corners and adding festive touches to storekeepers' windows. But despite the growing tinsel infestation, all she could see were the "missing" posters plastered on every bulletin board and street sign that were slowly fading from exposure to sun, wind, and rain.

She was past the point of being worried sick. Marinette was a worried zombie. And all the foundation and cover-up in the world could only do so much for the dark circles under her eyes.

"Marinette?" Alya softly whispered, tapping her on the shoulder. Marinette mustered the strength to tilt her head to the side to look at her best friend. At least she still had one person who hadn't suddenly disappeared from her life. Alya looked at her with concern and continued, "I'm sure he'll turn up. I know he will."

Marinette meekly nodded, unsuccessfully holding back a few tears as Alya soothingly rubbed her back.  _Why am I such a mess??_

_... On the bright side, at least there haven't been any Akuma attacks in a long time..._

* * *

Adrien hunched over his mug of hot chocolate, protecting the warm beverage from the brisk December air. Despite the dropping temperatures he insisted on sitting outside the coffee shop, still reveling in the freedom his disguise allowed him. Blonde hair dyed a dirty brown, wearing only the finest knock-off department store brand clothing, it was as if he were an entirely new person. No one had asked twice when he rolled into the coffee shop weeks ago inquiring about barista position and vacant room - with his mature stature and knowledge of the fashion world, the runaway high-schooler had found it easy enough to pass as a struggling art school dropout.

Since his self-imposed exile (right under everyone's noses and in front of all their salads, mind you), he finally felt like he could breathe again.

But he couldn't help the pang of guilt he felt every time he walked passed the poster of his own visage that hung on the cork board by the cash register. Or the little wave of sadness that came whenever a customer would enter the shop wearing Ladybug merchandise. Or the sucker-punch of sorrow that hit him each morning as he pulled the tray of second-rate croissants from the cafe's oven.

_Marinette..._

The least he could have done was leave her a note or something, but he hadn't even had the decency to do that.

He glanced at his watch with a deep sigh. Time to get back to work.

Adrien stood up with his now empty mug, heading back indoors with his dishes. After placing them by the sink, he shoved his left hand into the front pocket of his jeans before grabbing his apron. There he found his familiar steel talisman, its weight simultaneously a comfort and a burden.

_Soon, Plagg, soon. But I'm not ready. Not yet._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE, Y'ALL!!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's been leaving comments and kudos, even though it's been like a year and a half since I last updated - you all are seriously the best ^.^
> 
> Season 2 of MLB has been helping rekindle my inspiration (especially the Glaciator episode, ahh!), so with any luck you'll see more updates for this fic in the near future. I can't make any guarantees, though, because 1) apparently I'm a working adult who has to do adult things which doesn't leave a lot of time for other things, 2) I'm still forever obsessed with Star Wars and the last part of the last season of Star Wars Rebels is coming soon and I just can't handle it, and 3) I've also fallen in love with Dreamwork's Trollhunters, and I feel the need to write something for that too in my barely existing free time.
> 
> Again, thanks bunches to everyone who's been patiently (or impatiently) waiting and leaving comments and kudos, despite the fact I practically disappeared off the face of the planet :)


End file.
